After a nervous first set, when both players had trouble holding their serve, the eighth seed ran away with the second as 67th-ranked Govortsova was hampered by a painful rib injury.
"I had trouble with my serve because of the injury but in all honesty it wasn't the main reason I lost today," the 21-year-old told a news conference.
"She forced me to run a lot in the first set and I was very tired in the second," added Govortsova who was bidding for her first title.
Schiavone, who had lost 10 of her 11 previous finals including the Moscow showpiece against France's Mary Pierce in 2005, said she was tense on Sunday.
"Usually I feel nervous before matches but today was the final so I felt it even more," said the 29-year-old whose only other title came in Austria in 2007.
STAY AHEAD
"The key for me was to stay ahead in the first set, at 3-2 then 4-3. That helped me to settle down so the second set was easy."
The world number 24, who took home a $157,500 first prize, said she was helped by the fact all the top seeds were knocked out in the opening two rounds.
"Of course it helped I was facing a lower-ranked player in the final," said Schiavone, the highest seed to reach the last eight.
Asked how she would celebrate the biggest win of her career, Schiavone said: "I haven't been home for six or seven weeks so I'm really looking forward to seeing my mum and we'll have a bottle of wine with family and friends".
Third-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny takes on sixth-seeded Serb Janko Tipsarevic in the men's final later on Sunday.
(Editing by Sonia Oxley and Tony Jimenez. To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
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