Dinara continued to prove herself as the best player in the world Sunday, winning her second straight Premier-level Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title at the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open with a 62 64 victory over the Top 10’s newest member, Caroline Wozniacki.

Neither Dinara nor Wozniacki had difficult paths to the final. The No.9-seeded Wozniacki didn’t even drop a set, although she did come close a few times; top-seeded Dinara was pushed to three sets once and nearly lost that one, rallying from 0-2 in the third set to beat Lucie Safarova in the third round, 60 46 63. But both players were fresh as a daisy for Sunday’s title bout.

The two finalists had never played before but Dinara’s power game was too much for the craftier Wozniacki at the critical moments. Dinara broke serve twice en route to taking the first set, 6-2, then gained the third and final break of the match in the first game of the second set en route to taking it, 6-4. The final score seemed routine but the two were on court for an hour and 49 minutes.

“I was feeling confident from the beginning and tried to be as aggressive as I could,” Dinara said. “I got a little bit tired at the end of the match but I was still dominant in the crucial moments. Caroline is a great player - she’s very young and has time to improve. I think she can be very dangerous.”

Dinara had a strong start to the season, going 14-5 between Australia and the European clay court season, and since climbing to No.1 on April 20 she has gone 14-1, finishing runner-up in her first event as No.1 in Stuttgart and now winning back-to-back titles in Rome and Madrid. She heads into Roland Garros as the favorite, and though she has never won a major she has come close - twice.

“I have come to find my place. I feel comfortable being No.1,” said Dinara, a runner-up at the 2008 French Open to Ana Ivanovic and the 2009 Australian Open to Serena Williams. “It was my dream from the beginning to be No.1 and I always believed I could get it. Once I got it, I was ready for it. That’s why I think I’m enjoying it so much. Since I became No.1 I’ve played better and better.”

Dinara won her first round doubles match with partner Agnes Szavay before withdrawing with a left knee injury she suffered in practice, though it obviously didn’t hinder her singles play much.

It’s always hard for the best in the world to be totally satisfied. Dinara voiced displeasure with her form throughout the week, and maybe several brushes with defeat prompted that, but in the end the world No.1 was the last one standing anyway, taking her first title of the year at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

Dinara, the top seed at the $2-million stop, beat Virginie Razzano in straight sets in her first match of the week but was two points away from falling to Zheng Jie in the round of 16, rallying from 5-2 down in the third to get past the No.14 seed, 57 61 76(3). In the quarters she was down 64 31 to María José Martínez Sánchez, the unseeded Spaniard even holding three points for 64 41; Dinara wouldn’t lose another game in her 46 63 60 win. She then battled more than three hours to edge No.5 seed Venus Williams, a player she had never won a set off of, 67(3) 63 64.

The battle scars must have healed overnight, however, as a fresh-looking Dinara put on a dazzling performance of power tennis in the title match against Svetlana Kuznetsova, who had beaten her in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final in Stuttgart six days earlier, 64 63. Seeded No.7 this week, Kuznetsova had spent significantly less time on the court in Rome than Dinara, dropping just one set - to No.12 seed Flavia Pennetta in the third round, and rebounding nicely, 63 36 60.

While 10 of the 17 games in the final between Dinara and Kuznetsova went to deuce, when the important points came along it was all Dinara - as the Russian, who was spending her third week as the world’s No.1 player, having ascended on April 20 - defeated her countrywoman safely in 90 minutes, 63 62.

“I think yesterday’s match really helped me to push myself to play my best,” Dinara said, referencing her win over Williams. “Really, really I think I played one of my best matches yesterday. Against Kuzy, I had in my head that I had lost three finals this year. I didn’t want to have a reputation that I’m losing finals.”

Dinara had been a runner-up in her first three finals of the year, at Sydney (to Elena Dementieva), the Australian Open (to Serena Williams) and Stuttgart. Now she emerges with her 10th career singles title on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, following one in 2002 (Sopot), one in 2003 (Palermo), two in 2005 (Paris, Prague), one in 2007 (Gold Coast) and four last year (Berlin, Los Angeles, Montréal and Tokyo).

“When other players step on the court against me now that I am No.1, they have nothing to lose,” Dinara added. “It’s the same thing I did last year. Like when I played Henin in Berlin last year, I didn’t care. I was swinging and everything was landing in. I’m enjoying the challenge of proving I’m the best player.”

In the doubles event, Dinara and Nadia Petrova won two matches before withdrawing prior to their quarterfinal match because of a right ankle injury Dinara suffered in singles action.

Svetlanta Kuznetsova recorded a 64 63 win over world No.1 and top seed Dinara Safina - against whom she had lost four in a row - in Sunday’s final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Dinara now leads the all-time series, 7-5.

Kuznetsova won her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title since taking New Haven in the summer of 2007, more than 20 months ago.

Dinara, playing her first tournament as the top-ranked player in the world after ascending to the No.1 spot on April 20, was in her third final of the year, having finished runner-up in her first two tournaments at Sydney (to Elena Dementieva) and the Australian Open (to Serena Williams). She is now 9-10 in finals.

“I just wasn’t feeling that good on court today,” Dinara said. “Svetlana put me under pressure right from the start and played really well. She deserved to win. All in all it has been a good week. Compared to my other appearances here, it was a big improvement. At least I was in the final. It’s a shame I couldn’t win but I’ll be back next year and hopefully I’ll make the next step.”

In the semifinals, Safina rallied from 63 31 down to end the surprise run of Flavia Pennetta, 36 75 60.