Sharapova ends her clay drought

Sharapova was far from perfect

Maria Sharapova claimed her first tournament win on clay as she battled to a straight-sets victory in the final of the Amelia Island Championships.

The top seed took the first set on a tie-break before winning the second 6-3 against Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova.

It was Sharapova's third WTA Tour success in 2008 after winning the Australian Open and an event in Doha.

The Russian was not at her best in the Florida final, making 33 unforced errors and hitting five double-faults.

"This is definitely a big plus," she said.

Cibulkova, an 18-year-old playing in her first WTA Tour final, had plenty of chances to claim an upset.

She led 4-2 in the first-set tiebreaker before making two unforced errors that enabled Sharapova to recover.

"I had a lot of chances," said Cibulkova, who finished with 22 unforced errors. "I missed so many easy shots. I made quite stupid mistakes today."

Cibulkova also led 2-1 in the second set before summoning a physio to have her left thigh wrapped.

Sharapova took advantage of her opponent's injury, working her side to side and winning five of the final six games.