Na Li defeated Maria Sharapova 7-5, 6-1 to win the grass-court Aegon Classic and claim her first title this year.

"It's always exciting to be in a final because you can show your best tennis to everyone," Li said. "I had a good start to the year, which is important. If you play well at the start of the year it gives you more confidence for the rest of the year."

Sharapova, who tried to become the first player to collect three titles this year after triumphs in Memphis and Strasbourg, said she was pleased to get a string of matches under her belt before Wimbledon, which starts a week from Monday.

"Even though the first set was close, I was in trouble from early on and gave her too many looks at second serves," Sharapova said. "The goal here was to get as many matches as I could on grass. I would have loved to win but she was the better player today. She did many things better than me and returned great."

In the doubles final, Cara Black and Lisa Raymond won when No.1 seeds Liezel Huber and Bethanie Mattek-Sands were forced to retire trailing 63 32 due to a Huber left knee injury.

Na Li beats Sharapova to win Birmingham title