The 28-year-old Chinese woman was a comfortable 7-5 6-1 winner to claim her third career title.

Li, who beat Sharapova at the semi-final stage last year, had trailed 3-1 in the opening set but rallied to claim it before racing through the second in 24 minutes.

It meant she moved back into the top 10, after becoming the first Chinese to achieve the feat following her run to the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January.
Li was pleased to go one better after losing last year's final to Magdalena Rybarikova.

"Last year I beat Maria and then was so excited I forgot I had another match," Li said.

"I'm excited again. If I had another match this time, I think I would probably lose that too."

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