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Sharapova, the top seed and two-time Grand Slam champion, backed up her trophy from 2006 with a victory in just under two hours.

 The popular tournament ended its run of nearly three decades after falling victim to a WTA scheduling diktat for 2008.

 The license for the Carlsbad, California event was sold to Beijing, where it will be staged next season.

 Sharapova improved her summer record on hard court for the run-up to the US Open at 5-0 and has lost only one match of six against Schnyder.

 The Russian has been playing for months with a shoulder injury, which doctors tell her will eventually get better as long as she can stand some occasional pain.

 Sharapova improved to 31-8 on the season as she won her fifth match of the week in straight sets and sixth out of seven against the 28-year-old Swiss.

 It marked the 16th trophy of the 20-year-old's career, including Wimbledon 2004 and the US Open in September 2006.

 "It feels like a long time since I won a Grand Slam," said a delighted Sharapova. "I'm not a finished product. I'm a work in progress. I'm changing things to win more Grand Slams in my future, in the next whatever it is, ... five years."

   Sharapova swept the opening set in 37 minutes with two breaks of serve, only to see Schnyder power back to square the contest. The Russian delivered an untouchable 6-0 third set on the way to victory.

 Sharapova will play next week as top seed in Los Angeles while Schnyder will rest before returning to the US Open run-up at Toronto.

DPA