Nadia Petrova finally got the better of Francesca Schiavone in the final of the Bausch and Lomb Championships.

The top seed from Russia, Petrova had been 0-4 against the third-seeded Italian until her 6-4 6-4 win on Sunday.

"On (faster) surfaces, I was trying to attack a little bit more," said Petrova said. "That was putting me on the edge of my game and making more unforced errors that usual. Today, I was really patient. I felt she couldn't make huge winners on this surface."

"(Petrova) has gotten so much better now," Schiavone said. "She's much more consistent and a more difficult player to play against."

It was Petrova's 23rd victory of the season, tying Amelie Mauresmo for the most on the WTA Tour.

The win gave Petrova, who also won the event at Doha last month, her third career title while leaving Schiavone 0-7 lifetime in WTA Tour finals. However, Schiavone will rise from 13th to 11th when the new rankings are released on Monday.

"Even though I didn't win, I'm very happy with how I did this week," Schiavone said. "I didn't feel so comfortable coming in after Miami, but to make it to the final is something that I can be happy about."

"I've won my first title on clay, so this definitely gives me a lot of confidence starting out the clay season," Petrova said. "It feels really good to finish off the week with the title."