Serena Williams routs Safarova to win first title of 2012

Fifth seeded Serena Williams captured her 40th career WTA title by overpowering ninth seeded Czech Lucie Safarova 6-0, 6-1 at the Charleston claycourt tournament on Sunday.

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The 13-time Grand Slam winner needed just 58 minutes to dispatch Safarova in her first final appearance since last year's US Open when she lost to Samantha Stosur.

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"I definitely want to continue this," said Williams who will move from 10 to nine when the new world rankings come out.

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"I've never played consistently at such a high level with low errors like this, and the scary thing is I could have served so much better."

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This marked Williams' first WTA title since turning 30 in September and she is the first 30-year-old to win on the green clay in Charleston since Martina Navratilova in 1990.

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Williams, who did not drop a set in Charleston, improved to a perfect 5-0 against world number 26 Safarova. She won her quarter-final match when German Sabine Lisicki retired after 40 minutes in the first set with a foot injury.

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Williams hammered five aces, 27 winners and had just eight unforced errors. She won 20 of 25 first serve points and saved four of four break point chances on Sunday.

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"I did pretty well in (last) summer, but then I dropped off again until this tournament. So I really am like a floating bird," Williams said.

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"It's motivating for me to go home and work harder, because I know Lucie and Sam (Stosur) and everyone is going to work hard, too. Now they know what to expect even more when they play me. This is a battle, and I want to continue to win."

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She now needs one more title to tie Kim Clijsters (41) for 13th place on the WTA all-time list.

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This marked Williams' fourth career claycourt title and the second at Charleston to go with her 2008 victory.

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Safarova was a heavy underdog against Williams, despite her one-sided 6-0, 6-0 win over Polona Hercog in the semi-finals.

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Williams said the next time she plays will be in another claycourt tournament in Madrid, Spain.

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