November 12, 2003	Wednesday	Ramazan 16, 1424

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LOS ANGELES, Nov 11: Belgium’s Kim Clijsters successfully defended her WTA Championships title with a clinical 6-2 6-0 victory over France’s Amelie Mauresmo on Monday.

In a remarkable display of powerful, consistent tennis from inside the baseline, Clijsters overwhelmed Mauresmo, never allowing the Frenchwoman to control the net and moving her around the court.

“It’s a great feeling,” said Clijsters. “The first time beating Serena (Williams) in the final was special as well. But this year I played a lot better than I did last year. I was lot more consistent.”

It was the 20-year-old’s ninth title of the year and was something of a consolation for losing the number one spot to compatriot Justine Henin-Hardenne.

Henin secured the top ranking by reaching the semifinal here, having beaten Clijsters in both the grand slam finals they contested this year at the French and U.S. Opens.

“Not being number one is a little disappointing, but I’ve had a great year,” said Clijsters. “Winning nine tournaments is amazing. I’ll have a tough one next year.”

Mauresmo and Clijsters traded breaks to open the match, but after that, the Belgian seized control of the contest, winning most of the rapid-fire points from the baseline and serving with ruthless efficiency.

Clijsters broke Mauresmo three times in the first set and won it when she forced her opponent into a backhand error.

Mauresmo looked to be still suffering the after-effects of Sunday’s three-set semifinal victory over Henin and such was Clijsters dominance in the second set, the Frenchwoman ended up attempting to serve and volley behind questionable first serves.

Clijsters broke in the final game to win the match when Mauresmo committed another backhand error.

Clijsters committed only 10 unforced errors in the match to 18 from Mauresmo, won 75 percent of her first serve points to only 46 from her opponent and cracked 16 winners in the 52-minute romp.

Clijsters, who banked a cheque for $1,000,030 for her victory here, said it was a shame should could not have played Henin in the final.

AGASSI BEATEN

HOUSTON: Wimbledon champion Roger Federer saved two match points on way to a stirring 6-7 6-3 7-6 win over Andre Agassi on Monday, keeping alive his faint hopes of finishing the year as world number one.

Federer arrived at the $3.65 million season-ending event with only a slim chance of closing out the season in top spot and remains a long shot despite registering his first career win in four meetings with Agassi in a two-hour, 30 minutes thriller.

If the year-end top ranking is to go to Switzerland for the first time not only must Federer capture the Masters Cup but current number one Andy Roddick must go winless through the round-robin stage while the other contender Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero can win just once.

The Spaniard kept Federer’s aspirations alive earlier on Monday by falling tamely 6-3 6-1 to Argentine David Nalbandian in the other Blue Group encounter.

“It’s nice to beat such players one time in your career,” Federer said, reflecting on his first success over Agassi.

Seeing his first action since a semifinal loss to Ferrero at the U.S. Open, a well-rested Agassi, supported by a fanatical crowd, needed only a few games to shake off the rust under the floodlit stadium court.

When Federer got the contest off to the best possible start breaking Agassi at the first opportunity to pull ahead 2-0, it appeared as if the eight-time grand slam winner might be in for a short night.

But the 33 year-old American quickly let Federer know his time away from the court had done nothing to dull his competitive edge immediately breaking back then going on to take the set in a tiebreak 7-3.

Federer, however, also had plenty of fight left in him at the end of a long season putting pressure on the Australian Open champion with the all court game that many have compared to Agassi’s great rival Pete Sampras.

The 22-year-old Swiss was soon level in the match after taking the second set by a 6-3 margin.

With both players now clearly in the mood for a fight, Federer appeared to finally take control when he broke Agassi to surge in front 5-3 in the decider.

But once again, Agassi refused to surrender breaking back to force another tiebreak.

Sweat pouring of his head from the effort, twice Agassi would earn match point but could not convert.

Federer, however, would not squander his opportunity taking the tiebreak 9-7 on brilliant running cross court winner that Agassi could only watch.

“He (Federer) hit two real good returns when I was serving for the match and then, obviously, hit a great shot to win the match,” Agassi said.—Reuters