October 09, 2007	Tuesday	Ramazan 26, 1428

TOKYO, Oct 8: Spain’s David Ferrer pummelled Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-1, 6-2 to win the Japan Open title on Sunday.

The top seed, a late replacement for Roger Federer following the world number one’s late pullout, totally dominated the match and needed just 52 minutes to wrap up his fifth career title.

Ferrer won $145,000 and became the first Spaniard since Manuel Orantes in 1977 to win the Tokyo title.

Ferrer raced through the first set in 21 minutes, playing near-perfect tennis, sealing it with a ferocious backhand pass that fizzed past Gasquet’s racquet.

A dejected Gasquet trudged back to his chair and the third seed fared little better in the second set despite encouragement from a Tokyo crowd keen to get their money’s worth.

Ferrer, playing his first tournament since reaching the semi-finals of the US Open, broke for 2-0 and never looked like losing his grip on the match.

The 25-year-old wrapped up his third title of 2007 on his first match point, ending Gasquet’s bid for back-to-back titles after his victory in Mumbai last week.

Victory in Japan boosted Spaniard’s hopes of booking a spot in next month’s season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, for which only the top eight players of the year are eligible.

Ferrer is sixth in the ATP Champions Race while Gasquet broke into the top 10 by reaching the final in Tokyo.

HENIN triumphs in STUTTGART

STUTTGART: World number one Justine Henin says she wants to go on and break her personal record of eight WTA titles in a season after she equalled it by winning Stuttgart’s WTA tournament on Sunday.

Henin’s 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over France’s Tatiana Golovin at Stuttgart’s Porsche Arena on Sunday was her eighth tournament win this season and equals the mark she set in 2003.

“In 2003, I won eight tournaments out of 20, this year I have eight wins from 12 tournaments, so that is a record I would like to break,” she said with five WTA tournaments left until the season ends with the Sony Ericsson Championship in Madrid on Nov 5.

This was Henin’s 16th consecutive WTA win having won both the US Open and the WTA tournament in Toronto since her last defeat when she was beaten by France’s Marion Bartoli in the semi-final at Wimbledon in July.

Incredibly, the first set she lost to Golovin was the first she had conceded since that Bartoli defeat.

Golovin, 19, had looked set to beat Henin for the first time in their third meeting as the teenager broke the Belgian twice to take the first set.

Henin showed her class by responding in style to take the second set 6-2 having broken Golovin immediately and dominated the Russian-born starlet with a superb range of shots.

Last year’s finalist put up little resistance in the third and Henin needed just 29 minutes to claim a 6-1 win.

ROBREDO GRABS

METZ CROWN

METZ (France): Spanish top seed Tommy Robredo won the ATP event here on Sunday, beating British number one Andy Murray 0-6, 6-2, 6-3.

The final looked set to be a lop-sided affair after Murray raced to the first set without dropping a game in 22 minutes, the Scot taking 25 of the 33 points.

But Robredo bounced back to take the next two sets to win out in 1hr 53min for his second title of the season after Sopot in Poland and the sixth overall.

This result has kept Robredo on course for the Masters in Shanghai in November reserved for the world’s top eight players.

GONZALEZ reaches SECOND ROUND

VIENNA: Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez recovered from a disappointing start to defeat Fillipo Volandri of Italy 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 and reach the second round of the Vienna ATP tournament on Sunday.

The number two seed, who finished as runner-up to Ivan Ljubicic last year, dropped his serve to fall behind 3-1 in the opening set and was unable to recover the break, despite twice taking his opponent to deuce in the next game.

World number six Gonzalez then turned the match around in dramatic style in the second set, sweeping the first five games for the loss of just five points. The beleaguered Italian then finally held serve, before Gonzalez served out the set to love.

Gonzalez maintained his momentum to start the final set, breaking for 1-0 and then again to lead 5-2. But, having dropped only two points on serve in the set, Gonzalez failed to serve out the match, conceding his serve to 15 before breaking Volandri to love to claim an ultimately easy victory.

In the only other match played on Sunday, Robin Haase of the Netherlands also won in three sets, upsetting 49th-ranked Agustin Calleri of Argentina 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Sunday’s results (X denotes seeding):

Fernando Gonzalez (CHL x2) bt Filippo Volandri (ITA) 3-6, 6-1, 6-3; Robin Haase (NET) bt Agustin Calleri (ARG) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. —Agencies