Top seed Jelena Jankovic beat Russian Vera Zvonareva to win her second WTA Tour title in Auckland.

The Serbian was made to work hard for her victory, with the final score being 7-6 5-7 6-3 in a match lasting almost two hours 45 minutes.  

The deciding set was very topsy-turvy. Jankovic claimed an early break, only for Zvonareva to break back. The Russian then surrendered her serve again to leave Jankovic serving for the match.

Jankovic was thrilled with her achievement.

"I'm speechless," she said. "I came here so late and didn't know what to expect from this tournament and here I am holding this trophy."

Zvonareva paid tribute to her opponent.

"She played unbelievable today and she deserved to win," the Russian said. "Even though we had tough conditions to play with the wind this week, she played some great tennis."

Zvonareva also lost the final here last year with a 6-2 6-2 loss to Marion Bartoli.