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Svitolina, ranked sixth in the world, fired 10
aces and never faced a break point on the way to a 10th career
tour title.
She raced to a 3-0 lead before 23-year-old Belarusian Sasnovich
found her range with some lethal backhands and briefly
threatened to make it a contest.
Svitolina, however, unleashed a series of powerful groundstrokes
to break again and clinch the first set, before running away
with the second to claim the title in just over an hour.
"It was a tough, tough offseason," third seed Svitolina, also
23, said on court after the match. "To start with a trophy is
always very, very special."
World number 88 Sasnovich, bidding to become the first qualifier
to win the title in Brisbane, ran out of gas in her eighth match
of the week and only her third career encounter against a top 10
player.
She had stunned sixth seed Kristina Mladenovic in the opening
round and defeated last year's runner-up Alize Cornet in the
quarter-finals before battling past Anastasija Sevastova in the
last four.
"Sorry for my play today," Sasnovich told the Brisbane crowd.
"It was an incredible week for Elina - she was better than me
and deserved to win. It was a good week for me."
Svitolina, having landed her first silverware of the season,
heads to the Australian Open with her eyes fixed firmly on a
maiden grand slam trophy. The tournament begins on Jan. 15 at
Melbourne Park.
(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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