It was third time lucky for Kaia Kanepi as she won in Palermo, and Agnes Szavay claimed her second title in two weeks as she swept through the field in Prague, setting both players on their way to a possible place in the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions.

Kanepi became the first player from Estonia ever to reach the world top 20 after reaching the quarter-finals of the 2008 French Open, and now she is the first from that country to win a title on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour after overcoming defending champion and local favourite Flavia Pennetta 6-4 6-3. Her victory in Palermo comes after she had lost her first two finals, to Kim Clijsters in Hasselt in 2006 and to Caroline Wozniacki in Tokyo in 2008.

Things didn’t start well for Kanepi as her Italian opponent held a point to lead 3-0 with two breaks of serve, but Kanepi quickly recovered and went on to upset the number one seed.

"I'm very happy to win my first career title," said Kanepi, who recently reached her second Grand Slam quarter-final at Wimbledon. "This is the best moment of my career. After doing well at Wimbledon, now I've confirmed I'm playing really well. Flavia was playing well but today I was more aggressive in the most important moments of the match."

Meanwhile, in Prague, Szavay added to her victory last week in Budapest by beating Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-2 1-6 6-2 at the ECM Prague Open. Like Kanepi in Palermo, she defeated the local favourite. The Czech did sweep six straight games in the second set and went up a break in the third, but Szavay eventually rebounded to become only the second player this season to win back-to-back titles. Venus Williams was the other, winning Dubai and Acapulco.

"I was very tired, mainly in the second set but also in the third. I was also nervous," Szavay said after winning her fifth career title. "But I fought with myself and broke it. It's very nice to have a second title in a row. I've been working very hard and this is the reward."

Only the top eight-ranked players to have won a singles title on the International Series and who are not playing at the WTA Championships in Doha will be eligible to compete in the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions, which takes place at the Bali International Convention Centre, The Westin Resort, Nusa Dua from 4th to 7th November.