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FILDERSTADT (Germany) Oct 12: Kim Clijsters retained her number one spot in world tennis with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 victory over compatriot and nearest rival Justine-Henin Hardenne in the final of the 650,000 dollar WTA tournament on Sunday.
It was sweet revenge for Clijsters who had tasted defeat to world number two Henin-Hardenne in this year’s French and US Open finals with the 20-year-old taking the 98,500 dollar winning prize money and a brand new Porsche Carrera. Clijsters would have lost her top spot to Henin-Hardenne with defeat but showed her mettle recovering from losing the first set to take the next two and defend the WTA title at Filderstadt.
LYON (France): German top seed Rainer Schuettler outclassed France’s Arnaud Clement 7-5 6-3 to win his second straight tournament victory at the Lyon Grand Prix on Sunday.
Winner in Tokyo a week ago, Schuettler overcame fatigue to outpace and outwit Clement, who had also won a tournament last week in Metz.
The match was a one-sided affair and Schuettler, who qualified for the Masters Cup in Houston after reaching the semi-finals in Lyon, won in one hour and 50 minutes.
The German, who reached his first final of a grand slam tournament in Australia in January, has had by far his best season on the circuit at the age of 27.
It was Schuettler’s fourth tournament victory and the first outside Asia, having claimed his previous ones in Doha, Shanghai and Tokyo.
In front of his home crowd, Clement looked nervous at first and Schuettler quickly took the upper hand to lead 5-2.
The German even had a set point which the Frenchman dismissed before picking his game up and fighting back to 5-5.
But a well-adjusted lob gave the top seed another set point and he did not miss his chance to win 7-5 in 56 minutes.
Schuettler again had a perfect start to the second set, winning four games in succession. But Clement again reacted to earn a break back and trail 4-2 and 5-3.
Serving for the match, Schuettler did not budge and Clement had to be content with saving a match point before bowing out.
VIENNA: Roger Federer turned in another flawless performance, crushing Carlos Moya 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday to win the 765,000-euro CA Trophy, his sixth title of a near-perfect season.
The Swiss emphatically demonstrated why he loves the European indoor portion of the ATP season, collecting his 67th match victory since January with only 14 defeats.
The Wimbledon champion pulled even farther ahead in match wins since the start of the year on 67; his closest rival is U.S. Open winner Andy Roddick on 63 victories.
Federer finished his one-hour, 33-minute job as he capitalised on a break in the previous game, serving it out on his first match point with a winning overhead smash.
At the start, the Swiss seed worked for his chances in the opening set, finally seizing an opportunity to break Moya for 5-3. With Federer serving to the early lead, Moya helped his opponent’s cause, scooping a forehand long for a set point.
Some bad luck with the net cord left Federer still at work, but the 22-year-old claimed the set with a service winner followed by an ace.
Federer kept his momentum rolling, earning an early break for 2-1 as Moya fell to love-40, then fired a forehand long. The Swiss kept the pressure on Moya, forcing his rival to save two break points to hold in the seventh game.
Federer wrapped up the second set to move into solid command of the contest with a concluding break to take a two-sets-to-love lead.—Agencies
