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| May 28, 2006 | Sunday | Rabi-us-Sani 29, 1427 |
Croatia win World Team title for first time
DUSSELDORF, May 27: Croatia dominated hosts Germany 2-0 to win the 1.85 million euro ATP World Team Championship for the first time in their history on Saturday.
Croatia added the team trophy to the Davis Cup they won last year after crushing holders Germany in a one-sided final.
Germany had won seven matches in a row in this competition but that did not faze Croatia as they went one better than 1995 when they lost to Sweden in the final.
Injuries disrupted both team's preparations with Croatia losing Mario Ancic to a back strain while Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber pulled out with muscular problems.
Croat Ivo Karlovic and German Alexander Waske stepped into the breach and it was the giant Karlovic who came out on top winning 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in the first singles match.
“He had never broken my serve in all of our previous matches,” said Waske.
“But three stupid points and it was all over.”Nicolas Kiefer then had the task of keeping his country in the match but came up well short against Ivan Ljubicic - the undoubted star of this tournament.
The 26-year-old Ljubicic, ranked fourth in the world, hardly broke a sweat winning 6-4, 6-4 to clinch the crown. The win meant the ensuing doubles match was irrelevant.
The win will boost Ljubicic ahead of his French Open bid at Roland Garros, which begins on Monday. The big-serving Croat has been paired with Argentine Carlos Berlocq in the first round and expects a tough match.
“I am playing really well and look forward to the French Open now,” said Ljubicic.
VICTORY FOR DAVYDENKO
POERTSCHACH: Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko won back-to-back Hypo Group International tennis tournament titles on Saturday, defeating Andrei Pavel of Romania 6-0, 6-3.
The 24-year-old Russian picked up his sixth career title in winning the outdoor clay-court tournament.
Play had been going for just 25 minutes when Pavel double-faulted at 0-5 on set point.
Davydenko eventually won the match in 1 hour, 2 minutes.
Davydenko said he would go to Paris on Sunday ''with a good feeling'' about his French Open chances.
He added that he barely felt the ankle he twisted in Friday's semifinal. ''It's not so bad _ I only had a little pain,'' Davydenko said.
PEER LIFTS CUP
ISTANBUL: Israel's Shahar Peer won the WTA Istanbul Cup here on Saturday, defeating the top-seeded Anastasia Myskina of Russia to secure her third career title this year.
The fourth-seeded Israeli lost the first set 6-1, but surged through to win the second set 6-3 as the hard-hitting Myskina was slowed down on the clay court after a right forearm injury that forced her to call a break.
In the third set, 19-year-old Peer gained a 3-O advantage over her rival, but 2004 French Open winner Myskina held on to move ahead 5-4, only to lose 7-6 after a tie-breaker which the Israeli won 7-3.
Peer, the world number 33, previously won in Pattaya City in February and in Prague two weeks ago.
Saturday's match was only the second time Peer and Myskina met, with the Russian, the world number 12, winning the first match at Amelia island in 2005.
VAIDISOVA WINS
STRASBOURG: Czech Nicole Vaidisova won the sixth title of her career when she beat China's Shuai Peng 7-6 6-3 in the WTA Strasbourg final on Saturday.
Shuai, 20, forced the second seed into a tie-break in the first set, but lost 9-7.
Germany-born Vaidisova, 17, took the second set and the match after one hour 36 minutes to deny her opponent her first WTA title for the second time.
The pair, who will be playing at the French Open which starts on Sunday, had met in the 2004 Columbus tournament with Vaidisova winning the final 7-6 7-5.
Vaidisova, seeded 16th at Roland Garros, takes on Poland's Marta Domachowska while Shuai plays Russian Elena Vesinina.—Agencies
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