Elina Svitolina put down an impressive marker ahead of next week's French Open as she retained her Italian Open crown with a comprehensive victory over world No. 1 Simona Halep in Rome.
World No. 4 Svitolina produced a devastating performance to dispatch rival Halep 6-0, 6-4 in a little over an hour on Campo Centrale at the Foro Italico Sunday.
"It's amazing that I could come and defend my title here," Svitolina said. "It's really something very, very special for me.
"In a Grand Slam it's very tricky. But I'm definitely going to Roland Garros on a high note."
In a repeat of last year's final, Romanian Halep -- the No. 1 seed for Roland Garros -- failed to get into her stride as Svitolina took the first set without response in just 19 minutes, her impressive forehand proving too much for the Romanian.
Halep, 26, coming off an emotional semifinal victory over Maria Sharapova Saturday, struggled with an apparent injury in the final for the second successive year as she called the trainer on while trailing 2-3 in the second set. She also left the court for treatment on the suspected back problem during a medical timeout.
Last year, Halep rolled her ankle before losing a set lead to eventual champion Svitolina, who didn't face a single break point this time around.
"Every time I play against Sharapova the ball is coming very flat and I bend down a lot," Halep said. "She deserved to win for sure. She didn't miss. I missed."
Halep held serve in the opening game of the second set to get on the board, but Svitolina, 23, broke her opponent's serve for a fourth time to lead 2-1.
Despite a gutsy resistance from Halep, who made 21 enforced errors overall, Ukrainian Svitolina held firm to claim her third WTA title of the season ahead of the year's second grand slam.