LEIPZIG, Germany, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Serena Williams became the WTA Tour leader in titles this year with a 6-3, 6-2 trouncing of sixth seed Anastasia Myskina of Russia in Sunday's final of the $585,000 Sparkassen Cup.
The 21-year-old American captured her eighth tournament victory of 2002, one more than her older sister Venus. Serena already took her sister's Wimbledon and U.S. Open crowns, as well as the French Open championship - all coming over Venus.
"I am very happy to have won my eighth title this year," Serena said. "I have to thank my God, Jehovah for allowing me to have a year such as this. Anastasia had a great week, especially beating Kim (Clijsters) yesterday. I knew I had to be on my toes."
Williams has won 15 straight matches and 36 of her last 37, with her only loss since mid-May a quarterfinal setback to Chanda Rubin at Los Angeles in July. She arrived in Germany fresh after winning the Princess Cup in Tokyo last week.
"I played quite well today - still not at the level I would have liked to," Serena said. "It was a great challenge for me coming here after winning in Tokyo. Overcoming jet lag and the emotional highs since winning the U.S. Open was a big obstacle. My goal is still to improve as much as I can and reach my full potential."
The Florida resident earned $93,000 for her 19th career title and became the first No. 1 player to capture the crown here since 1993 when Steffi Graf triumphed. She also is the fifth player in the last 20 years to win two consecutive events after prevailing at the U.S. Open.
Myskina was hoping to earn her third tournament victory, but lost to Serena for the third time in as many meetings.
"Serena simply played too good for me today," Myskina said. "I thought I had a chance at 2-1 in the first set (where she held three points to lead 3-1) but Serena simply improved after that. I didn't serve that well - and against a player as good as she is, you have to hold serve every time."
The 21-year-old Russian won her second career title two weeks ago in Brazil and has been a finalist at two other events this season. She will remain at her career-high ranking of No. 12.
