October 1, 2007	Monday	Ramazan 18, 1428

BANGKOK, Sept 30: Russian Dmitry Tursunov buried any lingering memories of his mid-season ATP slump, picking up his second title of 2007 at the Thailand Open on Sunday.

The Russian rode rough-shod over first-time finalist Benjamin Becker, crushing the 79th-ranked German 6-2, 6-1 in less than an hour at the Impact arena.

Coming to Thailand after Davis Cup commitments in Moscow last weekend, the 24-year-old Tursunov was facing a crisis of confidence.

But the smiling Russian quickly put that right as he added the Bangkok crown to Indy and his breakthrough title a year ago in Mumbai.

Watching the rout was former Thai number one Paradorn Srichaphan, facing wrist surgery in Germany within days after last competing in March.

Tursunov, who will rise from his current 29th ranking after the third trophy of his career, left nothing to chance as he dominated Becker, who made his name as the last man to beat Andre Agassi before the American retired at the 2006 US Open.

Tursunov arrived in the Thai capital having lost his last three matches in the wake of winning Indy in July.
“I didn’t want to let this match slip away,” confessed the California-based Russian after a loose game in the second set almost gave Becker an opening.

“I was playing well, to say the least. It’s a final, a big occasion.

“You don’t want to come out and play sloppy. I knew that I had to put pressure on him right away. Unfortunately, it was a short match - bad for the crowd but good for me.”

Becker, who has competed in four semi-finals beginning with his first a year ago in Tokyo when he lost to Roger Federer, was far from displeased with his personal breakthrough this week.

“He played too well at the end,” said the finalist, broken four times. “But it was an achievement for me to be here, I enjoyed it.

“It was a great performance from Dmitry and a big lesson for me today. He put on so much pressure that I had no chance,” said the player, who had lost seven straight opening matches since Wimbledon.

“If anyone had said before that I would play the final, I would have never believed them. I’m going to Tokyo (he plays Japan’s Takeo Suzukiin the first round) with a lot of confidence.”

Tursunov has won three of his four career finals, going down only to Tommy Haas in Los Angeles a week before claiming the Indianapolis honours.

The Russian improved his 2007 record to 24-16 as he aims for the Top 20 with five weeks remaining in the regular ATP season.

Result:

Final - Dmitry Tursunov (RUS x6) bt Benjamin Becker (GER) 6-2, 6-1
WILLIAMS WINS
KOREA OPEN
IN Seoul, it was much tougher than she had bargained for but Venus Williams got the job done in the end, beating Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 in Sunday’s final of the Korea Open in Seoul.

It was the third singles title of the year for the American reigning Wimbledon champion who was the top seed here.
Forced to three sets for the first time in the tournament, she outlasted a resilient Kirilenko in a game that lasted two hours and 21 minutes, by far the longest of the championships for either player.

Serving for the match at 5-4 up in the third set, Williams went down 0-40, but rallied to force deuce. She took the title when Kirilenko’s return went wide.

Light rain delayed the match by about an hour, and when it began, Williams wasted little time in breaking Kirilenko’s serve in the opening game.

The Russian appeared over-matched early on, but a series of unforced errors by the American allowed Kirilenko to tie things up 2-2. Overall the two broke each other’s serve six times in a first set which Williams eventually won 6-3.
Williams won the first game in the second set but Kirilenko then profited from unforced errors and broke two serves to win 6-1 -- the first set she has won against Williams.

In the third the Russian appeared to edge ahead by going up 3-2 on an ace.
But Williams survived a gruelling sixth game to tie things up before breaking
Kirilenko’s serve to go into the lead and holding her own to go 5-3 up.
Kirilenko, the fourth seed, fought back, winning her own serve game to close the gap, but in the end it was not enough to win her second straight titke after Kolkata, India, last Sunday.
Result

Final - Venus Williams (USA x1) bt Maria Kirilenko (RUS x4) 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.—AFP