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CARLSBAD, (California), Aug 8: Sixth seed Mary Pierce combined a powerful serve with punishing returns to pick up a first US hardcourt title, easing past Japan’s Ai Sugiyama 6-0 6-3 in the final of the San Diego Classic on Sunday. With Pierce on the verge of victory, Sugiyama staged a late revival when she fought off five match points before breaking her opponent to pull back to 5-2.
Sugiyama then held her own serve and battled gamely in the last game, with the two times grand slam champion needing three more match points to seal the contest. Pierce erred on a forehand on the first of them and missed a simple overhead on the second that had both players doubling over with laughter. However, Pierce regained her composure to rip a stunning forehand winner and an ace to take the match.
WASHINGTON: Andy Roddick captured his fourth title of the year Sunday as he fired 18 aces to defeat fellow American James Blake 7-5 6-3 in the final of the $600,000 Washington Classic.
Roddick won 10 of 11 service games against Blake — and 63 of 64 this week — to give notice that he is ready to contend for the upcoming U.S. Open championship.—-Reuters
