Roland Garros runner-up Mary Pierce easily beat Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-0, 6-3 to capture the 1.3 million dollar WTA Acura Classic championship here on Sunday. It was the first US outdoor hardcourt crown and first Tier 1 final in more than five years for 16-year veteran Pierce.
Sugiyama advanced when countrywoman Akiko Morigami retired in the second set of their semi-final due to right knee tendonitis. Sugiyama was leading 6-4, 4-3 at the time of Morigami's retirement.
The sixth-seeded Pierce, of France, needed seven match points to beat Sugiyama.
Pierce looked sharp in her first tournament since a runner-up finish at the French Open and a quarter-final appearance at Wimbledon last month.
She disposed of three pretenders without dropping a set before hammering Sugiyama to earn 189,000 dollars and her 17th career crown, including her first in nine appearances at the La Costa Resort and Spa.
Sugiyama also had a resurgence this week. She had not reached a even a quarter-final in 18 events in 2005 before turning her fortunes around with four victories, including an upset over No 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia to reach her first final since winning the 2004 Gold Coast event in Australia.
Though Sugiyama was prepared to challenge Pierce, the speedy Japanese star was no match for the smooth-hitting baseliner, especially in the first set.
It also didn't help that Sugiyama had played 50 games on Friday night, including singles and doubles semi-finals totalling close to five hours.
Utilising sizzling groundstrokes, Pierce ran through the opening set in just 22 minutes, allowing Sugiyama just two points on her three service games.
Sugiyama offered a stiffer challenge in the second set, breaking Pierce's serve in the opening game.
Pierce regrouped, however, to run off the next five games, with Sugiyama taking a medical timeout after the third game to treat a broken nail on her big right toe.
In the seventh game, Pierce looked to serve out the match but Sugiyama fought off four championships points before the Frenchwoman double-faulted on break point.
After Sugiyama held for 5-3, Pierce got to 40-15 before blowing two more match points. On the first, she hit an unlucky forehand that clipped the net and bounced wide. At 40-30, Pierce butchered an overhead that nicked her racquet handle.
But Pierce won the next point, then capped a near-perfect week with her fourth ace. Pierce had a whopping 38 winners to just six for Sugiyama.