Named after a Russian royal, Anastasia Myskina took her place on the throne of claycourt tennis on Saturday, thrashing Elena Dementieva in an all-Russian French Open final.

The dark-haired Muscovite, often tempestuous, at times brilliant, controlled this one-sided title match from the moment the old friends stepped on court, winning 6-1, 6-2 to become the first Russian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title.

The Russian national anthem echoed around the Roland Garros stadium but it was a coronation lacking fanfare as sixth seed Myskina won by the biggest margin since Steffi Graf beat Belarussian Natasha Zvereva 6-0, 6-0 in 1988.

"I can't believe it," the 22-year-old said as she collected her trophy and cheque for 838,500 euros.

"I'm really very happy. But it was hard to control my emotions in a Grand Slam final against a player who is also a friend."

Dementieva found it harder.

"I think I was just too nervous today," she admitted. "I have wanted this all my life but I couldn't handle the pressure... I couldn't play my game," she added with tears in her eyes.

"My dream was to win Roland Garros and I'm sorry to have lost today."

The last Russian to have reached a Grand Slam final was Olga Morozova, who lost in the final here and at Wimbledon in 1974. Morozova is now Dementieva's coach and her charge could do no better.

"I just made too many mistakes, I couldn't do anything," Dementieva said.

At one point early in the second set she screamed at herself in Russian. "I shouted 'I hate myself'...which is true," she explained, before breaking down in tears.

ON-COURT SPATS

Fittingly, for a first Grand Slam final between two Russians, both players had chosen to wear red. There the similarity ended.

Myskina is a firebrand with short, dark hair. She is famed for her on-court spats with coach and ex-boyfriend Jens Gerlach.

Dementieva's long blonde locks hang in a pony-tail. She towers above Myskina and is more softly-spoken and demure.

She is also the more nervy character. This led to her downfall on centre court.

While Myskina appeared to revel in the final-day atmosphere, her 22-year-old friend simply froze.

The free-hitting style with which she ousted pre-tournament favourite Amelie Mauresmo in the quarter-finals never appeared as she fell apart in front of 15,000 Parisians.

Having grown up together and shared a coach in their early years, the two friends say they have played each other on countless occasions.

For the early part of this final, it did look as though the pair were going through the motions, training rather than competing as they both struggled to adapt to the unfamiliar surroundings of a Grand Slam title match.

Dementieva knows herself only too well and having won the toss, elected to receive. It paid immediate dividends as she broke Myskina for a 1-0 lead but she was unable to hold her own serve, hitting three double faults straight off to hand the advantage back to her opponent.

Myskina's game plan, drawn up over the last 15 years of playing her friend, appeared simple. Make the ninth seed play the ball and wait for the nerves to kick in.

SIMPLE PLAN

It was a simple plan, but did the trick.

Dementieva tried to be aggressive, tried to take the initiative on many occasions but too often she tightened, either sending the ball into the net or shovelling it deep over the baseline.

Myskina herself was not entirely immune to nerves. However, she managed to control herself at key moments, preferring the simple, rolled crosscourt shot rather than the high-risk efforts Dementieva seemed bent on.

The WTA's statistics had the pair tied at 4-4 in head-to-head matches but it is a difficult statistic to believe on the evidence of this match.

Everything Dementieva tried failed. The shots she had used to great effect in beating Mauresmo now landed limply in the net.

Leading 5-1 Myskina drilled a backhand down the line which Dementieva had no chance of reaching to seal the set in 27 minutes.

Dementieva's serve, a frailty at the best of times, deserted her completely as the pressure mounted and the match was all but over.

She managed two games in the second set but never looked like mounting a serious challenge.

Myskina was well into her stride and enjoying the big stage. She clinched victory when Dementieva fired yet another groundstroke long over the baseline.

The champion simply shrugged and smiled to Gerlach in the stands before hugging her vanquished friend at the net.