September 18, 2006	Monday	Sha'aban 24, 1427

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

BEIJING, Sept 17: Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis won his first ATP title with a 6-4 6-0 victory over Croatian Mario Ancic at the China Open on Sunday. The 21-year-old third seed, a finalist at the Australian Open and semi-finalist at Wimbledon already this season in his breakthrough year, won a tight first set with a beautiful passing shot and raced through the second at a canter.

Fourth seed Ancic, who returned this week after two months out with an injured knee, made too many errors to threaten the athletic Baghdatis despite his impressive serve.

Baghdatis, the world No 9, claimed his first victory over Ancic in four attempts when the Croatian went long with a forehand after an hour and nine minutes.

KUZNETSOVA TRIUMPHS

DENPASAR (Indonesia): Svetlana Kuznetsova won her second title of the season on Sunday when she defeated Marion Bartoli of France 7-5, 6-2 to win her third Bali International title.

The top-seeded Russian, who won in 2002 and 2004, is undefeated in 13 matches at the event.

Kuznetsova, who won in Miami in March and finished as runner-up at the French Open and Warsaw, withstood an aggressive performance from her sixth-seeded opponent, matching her in the fiercely contested rallies.—Reuters