Ferrer blows away Verdasco to win Mexican Open

Top-seeded David Ferrer easily defended his title at the Mexican Open on Saturday, beating fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 6-2 in the final.

Ferrer broke Verdasco twice in each set to take the match in just over an hour.

The sixth-ranked Ferrer won his second clay-court title in as many weeks, following his victory last Sunday at the Copa Claro event in Buenos Aires.

Ferrer also won the Heineken Open title in Auckland to open the season. He's off to an 18-1 start to 2012, the only loss coming to Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

In the women's event, Italy's Sara Errani defeated compatriot Flavia Pennetta 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-0 to win her third WTA title.

Pennetta captured the first set, which was filled with mistakes. Neither player managed to hold serve in the first seven games, and Errani was able to hold only once in the entire set.

Errani bounced back to win the second set in a tiebreaker, and gained momentum to take the deciding set 6-0 to complete the 2 1/2-hour match.