In capturing her fifth tournament of the year and fourth on U.S. hard courts, Clijsters mixed up her attack and retrieved doggedly to withstand an inspired display from Hantuchova in the first set before completely dominating the second.

"Every time I come to California I feel so welcome and play some of my best tennis," said the 22-year-old fifth seed, who has won four of her five 2005 titles in California.

"I became number one here two years ago and winning my second title here means so much to me."

After Clijsters broke her opponent to win the first set with an inside-out forehand winner, a deflated Hantuchova began littering the court with unforced errors.

"I had lots of chances in the first set but I wasn't holding serve the way I wanted to," Hantuchova said.

"It was really disappointed that at 4-5, I went for some stupid shots. She just proved that she's the toughest player out there.

"If you give her a few chances, she gets on top of you and it's hard to stop her. It was really frustrating because I had to work so hard to move her around and then she gets it back.

"It just kills me and I lost my head."

PALM TREE

A measure of Clijsters's spectacular defence was none more evident than in the third game of the first set, when she scurried deep into the corner of the stadium to retrieve a Hantuchova overhead.

The Belgian leapt high in the air and returned the smash with a one-handed backhand that forced the Slovakian ninth seed into an error.

When she came down, Clijsters collided with a courtside palm tree and was fortunate to avoid a serious injury.

"I actually cut my leg," the Belgian said with a laugh.

Clijsters did not drop a set during the tournament and only lost 25 games in five matches.

She has won 31 of her last 32 matches on American soil dating back to her defeat in the 2003 U.S. Open final to countrywoman Justine Henin-Hardenne.

She put up a wall of resistance behind the baseline, committing only 21 unforced errors to 33 from Hantuchova.

"The more you keep pushing them to go for more and the balls keep coming back, they take greater risks and get out of their comfort zone," Clijsters said.

"Today I started playing well, moving her around and she hit the lines, but the closer we got to the end of the set, I got a few more back and it made her think a little more.

"I could see after the first set that she wasn't on it anymore."

Clijsters, who sat out most of last year and the first quarter of this year with a wrist injury, will jump to number eight in the world, her highest ranking since October 2004, when the list is released on Monday.

• Complete tennis coverage
• All you want to know about Sania Mirza