September 25, 2006	Monday	Ramazan 1, 1427

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BEIJING, Sept 24: Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova won her second title in two weeks with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over France's world No 1 Amelie Mauresmo in a rain-disrupted China Open final on Sunday.

The world number five, who also triumphed in Bali last week, claimed her eighth career title when top seed Mauresmo's game fell apart after a two-hour break for wet weather.

The second-seeded Kuznetsova had just broken back to level the first set at 4-4 when the rain began at the Beijing Tennis Centre. After the players returned to the court she won the next eight games in just over half an hour.

Kuznetsova, who won both of the pair's previous encounters this year, opened brightly and slammed down two aces to win her first service game to love.

She bustled her way to two break points in the next game but Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Mauresmo finally found her range and saved them both before breaking the Russian for a 2-1 lead.

Mauresmo looked to be on the way to winning the first set but as the rain started to drizzle down on Centre Court the

2004 US Open champion broke back.

After two hours in the locker room, the Russian tore straight into her opponent to hold her serve and won the set with a break on the back of a double fault and a couple of unforced errors from the Frenchwoman.

That effectively ended the match and Kuznetsova raced away to win her third title of the season with a crisp forehand service return after one hour two minutes.

Kuznetsova, who lost all four matches against Mauresmo before 2006, is projected to equal her career-best ranking of fourth in the world on Monday.—Reuters