By Dustin Dow
Enquirer staff writer

MASON - The difference between Lindsay Davenport and Vera Zvonareva Sunday looked to be far greater than five spots in the WTA rankings.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Sunday's action

The fourth-ranked Davenport dominated No. 9 Zvonareva in winning the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open championship in straight sets.

It took Davenport just one hour, seven minutes to claim the 6-3, 6-2 victory in front of 4,221 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.

The win gave Davenport her fourth straight tournament championship of the summer. She has won more consecutive titles than any other player on Tour this season and figures to be in prime condition to challenge for a U.S. Open title in September.

With her match-winning streak at 17 matches, there appears to be little that can slow Davenport as she heads to New Haven, Conn., for the Tier II Pilot Pen Tennis tournament before the U.S. Open.

"Unfortunately, I know there is," Davenport said of the possibility of losing. "Hopefully it's not until October. It's been a great summer. It's been beyond my wildest expectations that something like this would happen so late in my career. It's exciting. I feel really energized and really fortunate that it's all happening to me."

In July, Davenport spoke of the possibility of retiring at the end of this season after she lost in the Wimbledon semifinals to the eventual champion Maria Sharapova.

Davenport, 28, hasn't lost a match since and dismissed the retirement talk this week by saying she already plans to play next year and will continue to play as long as her health will allow.

She served like one of the WTA's young gunners Sunday with an average service speed of 107 mph and a top speed of 115 mph.

Davenport yielded just two break-point opportunities for Zvonareva and saved both.

The match began with Davenport serving for the first game by hitting all of her first serves and winning every point. She then broke Zvonareva's serve in the next game to take immediate control of the match.

"That was the perfect way to start out," Davenport said. "Got up that early break the next game, and was able to keep it all the way through the first set. Never got in trouble. I've always said I can play so much better, so much more relaxed when I'm serving well. It allows me to go for more shots when I'm returning."

Davenport broke Zvonareva three times and frustrated her throughout the match to the point that she slammed her racket several times.

Zvonareva had to fight off four set points at 5-2 in the first set before winning the game. Davenport served out the set in the next game.

"I always try to hang in there on the games," Davenport said. "I know when I'm returning well, especially on a fast court, to always try to keep the pressure on. ... Even when I wasn't breaking, I felt like I was in a lot of those return games."

Davenport defeated Zvonareva for the fourth time this year and the third straight time it has been in straight sets. The 19-year-old Russian has never beaten Davenport in five meetings.

"The last two times on hard courts, I've been able to take control a little better, because I've learned my lesson on how to play her," Davenport said. "I just wanted to keep applying pressure when she was serving. Keep the balls deep and hard."

Davenport hit 34 winners, forcing Zvonareva into 19 unforced errors. Davenport made just nine unforced errors.

Zvonareva's last unforced error came on match point when she hit a forehand wide.

"It was really tough to beat her today," Zvonareva said. "She didn't give me any chances."

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E-mail ddow@enquirer.com