Vera Dushevina became the 21st winner of an International Series event this season and joined the Road to Bali with an overwhelming victory over Lucie Hradecka in the final of the Istanbul Cup.

The Russian took just 41 minutes to sweep her Czech opponent aside, winning 6-0 6-1, to claim the first title of her career. The victory came after she had previously finished as runner-up at Eastbourne in 2005 and twice in Stockholm, in 2007 and 2008. It was the second time this year that her opponent failed to win an International Series final, after she also finished as runner-up in Strasbourg to Aravane Rezai.

It was not only in the final that Dushevina excelled. She lost the least number of games of any player this year en route to a title, giving up just 16 games in the entire week. Until Istanbul, Flavia Pennetta was the leader, with 24 games surrendered in Palermo. The last player to lose less than 16 games was Anna Smashnova, way back in 2005. Dushevina admitted that winning the title was the last thing she had expected.

"Before I came to Istanbul I lost early in Portoroz, and I wasn't very excited about playing again this week," she confessed. "I was upset, and I didn't come here thinking I could win. It was a tough tournament with a lot of top players, so I'm very happy I was able to win the title, especially after playing three finals.

"I was serving very well today. I tried to be aggressive and push forward so she didn't have any chance to attack. If she played better it would have been a much tougher match, but it wasn't easy for me - it was a final. I'm very happy to win my first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title. I've played three finals before this so finally I have a title!"

Now Dushevina will be hoping she can end the year by making her first ever trip to the Paradise Island, to compete in the season-ending Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions, to be held at the Bali Convention Centre, The Westin, Nusa Dua. The tournament takes place from 4th to 8th November, and will feature top Tour players and next generation champions competing in an innovative 12 woman round robin singles format, offering $600,000 in prize money. In addition, an incredible $1 million bonus will be paid to any player that can win three of the 30 International Series events, and the Tournament of Champions.

The top 10 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour players who have won at least one International Series tournament during the year and who are not participating in singles at the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships will qualify for the event, along with two wild cards. The 12-woman event will feature four groups of three players in a round robin format, then a single-elimination semi-finals and final.