January 14, 2007	Sunday	Zilhaj 23, 1427

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AUCKLAND, Jan 13: Spain's David Ferrer mastered out-of-sorts Tommy Robredo to win the Heineken Open final here on Saturday, as the top seed struggled after suffering a blow to his groin after colliding with the net.

Third-seed Ferrer beat his more fancied compatriot 6-4, 6-2, playing a more aggressive and varied game against the world number seven, who rarely strayed from behind the baseline.Robredo appeared more unsettled by the rain interruptions which forced the pair to warm up four times as rain showers came and went through a first set that finished nearly four hours after it started.

He also appeared to take a few points to recover from a blow to the groin when he ran into the net trying to reach a drop shot in the first set.

Ferrer came out on top in the first set after breaking serve in the 10th game after both players made their share of errors in the middle of the set.

The world number 14 then broke Robredo twice in the second set to set up victory. He converted his first match point when Robredo hit a forehand too deep.

The beaten finalist refused to blame the weather breaks for his loss and paid credit to his opponent’s hard running determination.

Although the pair are friends and Davis Cup partners, they have only ever met once previously on the ATP Tour when Robredo won a close fought quarter-final 7-6 (12/10), 6-4 on clay last year in Hamburg, Germany.

Both now head to Melbourne for the start on Monday of the year's first grand slam, the Australian Open.—AFP