October 08, 2007	Monday	Ramazan 25, 1428

TOKYO, Oct 7: Wimbledon champion Venus Williams suffered a shock 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 defeat by France’s Virginie Razzano in the Japan Open final on Saturday, while top seed David Ferrer and Frenchman Richard Gasquet advanced to the men’s final.

Williams, the women’s top seed and winner of last week’s Korea Open, blew three match points in the second set tiebreak before Razzano levelled the Tokyo final at one set apiece.

Williams, who was chasing a 37th career title, called an injury timeout for treatment to her right thigh after the first game of the decider but it made no difference.

Razzano’s tenacity earned her the decisive break at 5-4 in the third, and the fifth seed sealed a stunning upset by forcing Williams into another wild forehand after two hours, 48 minutes.

Razzano’s victory gave her a second title on the WTA Tour, coming just a week after her breakthrough win in Guangzhou last week.

Both Ferrer and Gasquet came through their semi-finals with carbon copy 7-6, 6-3 victories.

Ferrer, who reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at this year’s US Open, defused Croatian Ivo Karlovic’s fierce serve in an absorbing contest.

Third seed Gasquet earned the right to face Ferrer in Sunday’s final of the $832,000 men’s tournament after beating number two seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.

HENIN MARCHES ON

STUTTGART (Germany): Justine Henin extended her perfect record against Jelena Jankovic on Saturday, posting a 7-6, 7-5 victory over the third-seeded Serbian to seal a place in the Stuttgart Grand Prix final.

Henin was joined in the final by the unseeded Tatiana Golovin of France, after she upset the Russian second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-4 in just 70 minutes.

World number one Henin, appearing in her first tournament since winning the US Open, started brilliantly against Jankovic but had to play her way through a ragged patch before coming through.

It was an eighth victory in as many matches for Henin against Jankovic, and a 15th consecutive win in all since her semi-final defeat by Marion Bartoli at Wimbledon.

Henin looked set for an easy ride on her way to the final as she marched into a 5-2 lead in the first set.

Jankovic held her serve to love in the next and then broke back only to get in trouble on her own service game again.

At 30-40 and set point, Henin put the simplest of overheads into the net to let her opponent off the hook.

Jankovic subsequently held and forced a tiebreak before Henin recovered her poise to take it 7-2.

Henin fell a break down early in the second set but she hit back in game seven with a perfect backhand lob and finished by far the stronger of the two to complete what was in the end a fairly comfortable win.

Golovin will be making a second successive appearance in the Stuttgart final, after losing last year to Nadia Petrova.

If she plays as she did against Kuznetsova she will take some stopping.

The 19-year-old broke early in each set and found the lines with her groundstrokes throughout against her tiring opponent.

MURRA ROBREDO IN FINAL

METZ (France): Briton Andy Murray beat second-seed Guillermo Canas of Argentina 7-6, 6-4 at the Metz Openon on Saturday to set up a final with top seed Tommy Robredo.

The third-seeded Scot, whose season has been disrupted by a wrist injury, won the first set tiebreak 7-2 after the opening set went with serve.

The players traded breaks in the second set before Murray, bidding for his third ATP title, wrapped up the win with his first match point on Canas’s serve.

Spaniard Robredo, still on course for a Masters Cup spot, was made to work hard by France’s Nicolas Mahut, whom he eventually beat 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.

Robredo and Murray have met only once, with the Spaniard winning 6-2, 6-2 in the Los Angeles Open final last year.—Reuters