Ana Ivanovic ensured 2014 will be one of her best recent seasons after beating Caroline Wozniacki in the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
Ivanovic won 17 points in a row to claim the first set and then battled back from 3-1 down in the second to take the victory 6-2 7-6 (7/2) against US Open runner-up Wozniacki, who was seeded second.
The third seed’s Ivanovic's triumph means the Serbian has won four WTA titles this year - beating her previous record of three titles each in 2007 and 2008 - while she has also now won 52 matches in 2014, also a new personal record for a season.
Ivanovic told wtatennis.com: "Caroline played a great match today. It was a really good battle out there - there were some very tough moments, especially in the second set.
"But I just tried to take it one point at a time, and I'm really happy to make it through. It's just an amazing feeling to win this title."
The Serbian's win in Japan also takes her a step closer to qualifying for the WTA Finals, with this victory set to see the 26-year-old former world number one climb from eighth spot to fifth in the Road to Singapore leaderboard.
"I'm really happy that this is one step closer to the WTA Finals in Singapore," said Ivanovic, who needs to be among the top eight to qualify for the tournament.
"It's coming close and everything's on the line."
