Indian Wells, California  - Russian Vera Zvonareva overcame a whipping desert wind on Sunday to dethrone Ana Ivanovic at the Indian Wells Masters, overcoming the frustrated holder 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 for the title

The match was played in desert gusts which sent sand through the air and made holding serve a challenge. A total of 19 break points were up for grabs in the unpredictable conditions. There was only one ace served in the two-hour battle.

"After a couple of games I knew that the conditions are very difficult and it's not going to probably change today," said the Russian winner. "I had to fight for every point, I have to adjust my game.

"I think I did pretty well. Even though I had some mistakes and some frustrating points with the wind, I was still trying to put as many balls as I can in the court."

The weather-influenced victory marked the second trophy of the season for Zvonareva after winning Pattaya City following the Australian Open.

Men were playing for their final to follow, with former champion Rafael Nadal facing Scot Andy Murray.

Ivanovic, who won the title a year ago in much calmer conditions, will remain on her current seventh ranking while Zvonareva will pass Venus Williams for the number 5, her highest standing.

"Those were the toughest conditions I ever played in," said the Serb. "It was very, very windy, and it wasn't much about game and game plan today. It was just who can handle the conditions better, and who can stay mentally tougher through it.

"Today she did. Yeah, she played really well."

The first set took a massive 77 minutes, with Zvonareva winning the battle of attrition in a tiebreaker after saving an Ivanovic set point in the 12th game.

The Russian then managed to sneak through to her ninth career singles title with two breaks of her Serbian opponent while losing her own service game to start the second set.

Ivanovic saved a match point before taking the loss for a forehand into the net.

"I just have to accept it and try to learn from this," said Ivanovic. "I felt so good about my game, so disappointed about the way the conditions were today. I just couldn't play normal game."

The win was the second in a row in the series for Zvonareva, who beat Ivanovic at the season-ending final in Doha last November. The pair are now level at four wins each. (dpa)