Mary Pierce refused to let herself become the latest upset victim of Italy's Francesca Schiavone this week.

Pierce collected her second WTA title this year and 18th of her career with a 6-4 6-3 triumph over Schiavone to win the Kremlin Cup.

Ranked seventh in the world, the 30-year-old Pierce has won 25 of her last 28 WTA Tour singles matches, including the title at San Diego in August.

She also reached the final at both the French and US Opens.

"The hard work is definitely paying off, that's for sure," Pierce said.

"I have said before that last year I wasn't sure if I would play again, and after much thought, (I) decided I had more to do in tennis, and really this year has just been amazing."

Pierce, who also won the championship here in 1998, defeated Schiavone for the second time in her career, successfully following up a straight-sets win in their only previous encounter at a Federation Cup match last year.

The victory capped a dramatic week for the third-seeded Pierce, who saved six match points in her quarter-final victory over Russia's Elena Likhovtseva on Friday, the most of any singles titlist on tour this year.

"This tournament was not on my original schedule for this year, but I saw last month that I might qualify for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships in Los Angeles, so (I) decided to stay in Europe and play the big events to try to get my points up," Pierce said.

"It looks like I've made the right decision because I will move up in the standings on Monday."

Schiavone defeated second-seeded Amelie Mauresmo of France, eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia and fourth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva before failing in her bid for her first career singles title.

"I am of course disappointed, but maybe I need a little practice in the finals of these big tournaments," Schiavone said.

"This was my first Tier I final, and she was just too good for me today. She really played her best tennis, and I have to give her credit for playing a great tournament."

The 25-year-old Italian is ranked 22nd in the world and was a three-time quarter-finalist in four prior appearances here.

She reached her second final of the year after losing at Bali to American Lindsay Davenport last month.