World number one Dinara Safina won her first title of the season in emphatic style at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome - providing an immediate riposte to her critics.

The Russian took over from Serena Williams at the top of the rankings last month despite never having won a grand slam event.

And Williams made her feelings clear before the start of this week's tournament when she told a press conference: "We all know who the real number one is."

But while Williams failed to make it past the second round, Safina toppled Serena's sister Venus in the semi-finals on Friday and breezed past Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3 6-2 in the final.

It was Safina's fourth final of the year and second in as many weeks after she lost to fellow Russian Kuznetsova in Stuttgart last weekend.

There was to be no repeat, though, as Safina, surely buoyed by her epic win over Venus, edged a topsy-turvy first set.

In the second she won four games in a row from 1-1 and there was no way back for former US Open champion Kuznetsova, who has hit form just in time for the French Open.