Elena Dementieva ended Martina Hingis's bid for a first singles title since returning to tennis with a crushing 6-2, 6-0 win in the Pan Pacific Open final in Tokyo on Sunday.
"It was probably one Russian too many," smiled Hingis, who had beaten Maria Kirilenko and top seed Maria Sharapova en route to her first final in four comeback tournaments.
"It used to be two Williams sisters and a [Lindsay] Davenport. Now there's a whole army of Russians in the way.
"I'm not looking for excuses. I tried a lot of things but she always had a better answer. Today she was just too good. If she plays like that all the time she would have won Grand Slams."
Dementieva had beaten Hingis 6-3, 6-1 in Filderstadt in October 2002 in what was the former world number one's last match before chronic ankle trouble forced her into early retirement.
Hingis returned to the game last month, reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals and winning the mixed doubles crown with India's Mahesh Bhupathi.
Dementieva suffered a shock first-round exit in Melbourne but the second seed had too much firepower for Hingis in Tokyo, ending her bid for a record fifth title in just 56 minutes.
Hingis's game unravelled as quickly as the "Swiss Miss" had destroyed Sharapova in the semi-finals, Dementieva picking her off from the baseline and making clever use of the lob.
BREAKTHROUGH TITLE
"Martina's my favourite player so I never expected to beat her like this," Dementieva told reporters after winning her first tier one title on the women's WTA Tour.
"I have never had a 6-0 second set, only against me, but I think the match was closer than the score. I only have one good day every week -- otherwise I would be number one already."
Hingis, who thrashed defending champion Sharapova 6-3, 6-1 on Saturday, won the Pan Pacific Open in 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2002 -- her last title before retiring.
She was also runner-up in 1998 and 2001.
Hingis made a one-off return to the game in February last year, losing to Germany's Marlene Weingartner in the first round of Thailand's Pattaya tournament.
The 25-year-old Hingis was unranked three weeks ago but climbed to 117th after her strong run in Melbourne.
Her ranking is still set to rise to just outside the top 50 after reaching her seventh Tokyo final. Hingis will continue her return in Dubai and Doha later this month.
Dementieva, one of 11 Russians in the top 50, will climb from ninth to eighth as a result of her first tournament win since 2004 when she also reached two Grand Slam finals.
The 24-year-old Muscovite picked up $196,900 for winning her fifth career singles title.
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