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 For the top-seeded American, the triumph marked her first in six
visits to Cincinnati and sent a message that she is in top form
heading into the year's final grand slam, where she is the two-time
defending champion.
"It's just amazing to finally win here," said Williams, who fired a
dozen aces and broke her opponent four times. "The fans were amazing
and it's so wonderful to be here."
After falling behind early, Williams broke her ninth seeded
opponent's serve in the sixth game of the first set to pull even and
then broke again four games later to wrap up the opener in 38
minutes after consecutive double faults from Ivanovic.
A year removed from losing the Cincinnati final in a third set
tiebreak to Victoria Azarenka, the world number one left nothing to
chance in a dominant second set.
 Williams broke Ivanovic to open a 3-1 lead in the second set and
then relied on her powerful serve to carry her the rest of the way.
It marked the fifth title of the year for the 32-year-old American
following wins in Stanford, Rome, Miami and Brisbane.
The Cincinnati tournament is the last of the key tune-ups ahead of
the Aug. 25-Sept. 8 U.S. Open in New York.
For 26-year-old Ivanovic, a former world number one who was chasing
her fourth title of the year, her run to the Cincinnati final will
put her back in the top 10 of the world rankings for the first time
in five years.
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"It's been a great week for me in Cincinnati," said Ivanovic, who was
coming off a nearly three-hour win over fifth seed Maria Sharapova in
Saturday's semi-final.
"I really want to congratulate Serena. I think I got a lesson on how to
serve today. Maybe after you retire you can give me some tips."
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Mark Meadows)
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