Ivanovic beats Safina in French Open final to clinch first grand slam title

Ivanovic, runner up at Roland Garros 12 months ago, went one better in 2008 by posting a 6-4 6-3 victory over the 13th-seeded Russian on Philippe Chatrier Court.

The 20-year-old from Belgrade was always in control of the match, and received the Suzanne Lenglen Cup from recently retired Justine Henin - her conqueror in the 2007 final.

Ana Ivanovic of Serbia lifts the trophy following her victory during the Women's Singles Final

Ivanovic's victory consolidates her impending elevation to the top of the women's game. She will be confirmed as the new world number one when the latest rankings are released on Monday, replacing Maria Sharapova.

Walking out on court, Ivanovic - with two grand slam final appearances under her belt - appeared the calmer of the two, with Safina, making her bow at this level of competition, noticeably the more preoccupied.

Ivanovic, who finally found top gear in this tournament during her spirited semi-final win over compatriot Jelena Jankovic, took the early initiative by breaking the grand slam final debutant in the first game.

The number two seed's forehand has been firing well at this tournament, and she quickly had Safina on the rack, forcing break point and then converting the chance as her opponent fired wide with a forehand.

The next three games went with serve, although the feeling still remained that Safina - the winner of the German Open in Berlin last month - was the more fragile of the two.

The next game confirmed that fragility, Safina's service game totally deserting her as Ivanovic broke to love to move 4-1 ahead.

A dejected Dinara Safina

But after losing that second break, Safina won eight of the next 10 points to force her way back into the set.

The green shoots of recovery started to show in the sixth game, Safina finding a supreme forehand winner to prevent falling 5-1 behind at 30-40. She then brought up break point with a confident volley at the net before Ivanovic netted to allow Safina to break back. A service game to love followed as the Russian closed to 3-4.

Safina battled back again in the next game, recovering from 0-40 down to win five points on the bounce to get the set back on serve.

But the pendulum swung in the next. Both players were now making mistakes, but two shanked forehands by Safina stood out as needless errors, the second of which handed Ivanovic break point, which she duly converted with a forehand winner.

Ivanovic wrapped up the first set after 45 minutes on court, spurning one set point before sealing the opener at the second time of asking as Safina fired long.

The second set went with service for two games but Ivanovic stepped it up in the third, her ability to defend Safina's service game again coming to the fore.

The game was illuminated by a thrilling 26-stoke rally that went the way of Ivanovic despite the fact she was on the back foot for much of the point as Safina rained down smashes, forcing the second seed to defend frantically from behind the baseline.

Break point duly arrived for Ivanovic, who was by now reading Safina's serve with ease, and she converted the chance with one of her most potent weapons, a cross-court forehand winner that has been a feature of her run to the final at Roland Garros.

A service game to love had Ivanovic well in control at 3-1, although after Safina battled from a set and 2-5 to oust both Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva in earlier rounds, the Serbian will unlikely have been resting easy at this point.

And so it proved as Ivanovic was forced to battle all the way in the next game. The 20-year-old had to fend off break point as her first service began to misfire, but eventually she moved 4-2 ahead when Safina fired wide on her forehand.

A further thriller awaited in the next game as Safina survived falling 2-5 behind as an Ivanovic backhand down the line was ruled marginally wide on break point, while two double faults by Safina also handed her opponent a second break point, which she failed to take.

Finally Safina held for 3-4, but Ivanovic appeared none the worse for wear in the next game as she held with ease to leave Safina serving to stay in the match.

But Safina could not raise her game when it mattered most, as Ivanovic found the shots at the right time to break to love and seal her first grand slam crown.