July 17, 2006	Monday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 20, 1427

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BASTAD (Sweden), July 16: Tommy Robredo demolished Russian top seed Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 6-1 to win the Swedish Open on Sunday.

It was the fourth career title for the Spaniard and the second this year after his triumph in the Hamburg Masters in May.

“I did what I had to do,” Robredo told reporters.

“Normally you don't expect to beat a guy like him 6-2, 6-1, but finals are sometimes like this. If one guy plays really well then the other one can get frustrated.

“The thing I did perfectly was the tactics. It was not necessary to hit my best shots.”

Davydenko, the world number five, had been in impressive form throughout the tournament but looked tired in the final and hit far too many unforced errors to challenge Robredo's steady game.

“If you let him hit the ball really hard like he wants, then he's so difficult to beat. But I was always making long shots or high shots and I think he was never comfortable on the court,” Robredo said.

Davydenko hit a backhand long in his service game to hand the Spaniard the match in one hour and 15 minutes.

It was the pair's second meeting on the ATP tour, the first having come in the French Open last year when Davydenko defeated Robredo in the quarter-finals.

“I lost to him in Paris and I didn't want to make the same mistakes again,” said Robredo.

The Spaniard, world number nine going into the Swedish claycourt tournament, was not too concerned about how the win would improve his ranking.

“For me, it's not important where I'm going to be (in the rankings) next week.

“For me it was important that I won the title and that I was the best of the tournament.

“For me the most important thing is to finish in the top 10 at the end of the year. If I can go into the Masters finals, that could give me a lot of confidence. That's important.”

Robredo reached his best ranking of seventh in May when he won in Hamburg.

GASQUET TRIUMPHS

GSTAAD (Switzerland): France's Richard Gasquet claimed his second title in three weeks on Sunday with a 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 win over Spain's Feliciano Lopez in the final of the Swiss Open.

It was Gasquet's third career title, following his triumph at the Nottingham Open in the run-up to Wimbledon where he was beaten by world number one Roger Federer in the first round.

Gasquet had to contend with some impressive serving from the hard-hitting Lopez but was frequently able to outplay and outrun his opponent with a clever variety of shots.

In the second set the Frenchman dropped just two points on his own serve while taking Lopez to deuce four times.

He failed to convert two break point chances, however, and paid the price when Lopez rallied to take the tiebreak.

There were no such mistakes in the following sets, as Gasquet's patient play was finally rewarded with three breaks of the Spaniard's serve.

“I think patience was the key today,” said Gasquet, who watched Lopez fire a total of 24 aces past him.

“I had to wait for my opportunities because Feliciano was really putting me under pressure with his serving.”

A former world number 12, who has since slipped to 60th following recent stomach and elbow injuries, Gasquet appeared to be back to his promising best on Sunday.

His latest tournament win marked his first success on clay, with both his previous title victories having come on the Nottingham grass courts.

“I am sure that I am playing better now than when I reached the number 12 spot,” Gasquet added.

“The fact that I have now won on clay and grass is very important for my confidence because I want to show that I can play well on all surfaces.”—Reuters