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| October 14, 2002 | Monday | Sha'aban 7, 1423 |
Clijsters battles hard for title
FILDERSTADT (Germany), Oct 13: Belgium’s Kim Clijsters battled her way to a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory over eighth seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia to win the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Sunday.
Both players struggled to stamp their authority on the one hour 55-minute match, and the outcome hung in the balance until sixth seeded Clijsters broke to lead 5-4 in the final set when a forehand down the line from Hantuchova landed just wide.
The first set went to Hantuchova after three consecutive breaks of serve left her leading 3-2, but she had to hold off break points in her next three service games before taking the set.
The second set also produced a flurry of breaks. With Clijsters leading 2-1, only one point was held on serve in the next four games, before the Belgian broke a third time in the set to lead 5-3 before taking the set in the next game.
In the final set, Clijsters broke to lead 1-0 but the Slovak levelled at 4-4 when Clijsters hit her sixth double fault.
In the ninth game, Hantuchova was broken again after holding three game points, and Clijsters served out the match to claim her second title of the year. Her first was also on German soil, in Hamburg last May.
PARIS: In-form Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu beat Gustavo Kuerten 4-6 6-3 6-1 in the final of the Lyon Grand Prix on Sunday to claim a title for the second successive week.
The 20-year-old Mathieu, winner of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow as a qualifier last week, beat the former world number one to take his unbeaten run to 13 matches.
A little rusty at first, the Frenchman moved up a gear in the second set and overpowered his Brazilian opponent in a one-sided third set.
VIENNA: Swiss sixth seed Roger Federer outclassed Czech fifth seed Jiri Novak 6-4 6-1 3-6 6-4 to win the indoor CA Trophy on Sunday and claim his third title of the year.
Federer’s win, the fourth of his young career, vaulted the 21-year-old from 10th to seventh in the ATP Champions Race and boosts his chances of securing one of the eight tickets to the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai.
It also signalled a resounding return to form for Federer after a slump over the summer following his last tournament victory in Hamburg in May.
“I’m absolutely overwhelmed — it’s been an incredible week for me here,” the overjoyed champion said.—Reuters
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