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BEIJING, Sept 17: Chile’s world number seven Fernando Gonzalez survived a mid-match blip to beat Spain’s Tommy Robredo 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 and win his first title for two years at the China Open on Sunday.
The 27-year-old, who came to Beijing on a losing streak that went back to Wimbledon in June, dominated the opening set but gradually let Robredo back into the match and was forced to dig deep to claim the eighth ATP tournament of his career.
In the first set, the second seed showed the kind of form that got him to the Australian Open final in January, unleashing his thunderbolt forehands at will in a display of disciplined aggression that completely disarmed Robredo.
The third seed, more at home on clay and playing for his first career hardcourt title, was forced to rethink his strategy and his approaches to the net drew dividends when he twice broke Gonzalez in the second set to even up the contest.
Gonzalez, however, had shown great mental resilience in earlier rounds when his best game was eluding him and Sunday’s final was no different.
Although clearly deflated by his 25-year-old opponent’s fight-back, Gonzalez was already having the best of the deciding set when he prevailed in a thrilling game featuring six deuces to take a 3-1 lead.
Robredo offered only token resistance for the rest of the set and Gonzalez converted his first championship point after an hour and 45 minutes to win his first title since Basel in 2005.
BALI CROWN FOR DAVENPORT
NUSA DUA (Indonesia): Lindsay Davenport claimed one of the most unlikely title victories of her career at the Bali Classic on Sunday when she defeated second seed Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
The 31-year-old American was playing her first singles event in almost a year, only three months after giving birth to son Jagger in June, and had not known what to expect as she began her tentative comeback.
Davenport had been ready to lose in the first round but instead defeated world number three Jelena Jankovic in the quarter-finals before going on to earn her 52nd title.
It was her seventh win in seven meetings with the willowy Slovak and at 234 she is the lowest-ranked player to win a tournament this year.
She is also the second mother to win a title this season, following Austrian Sybille Bammer’s February victory in Pattaya.
The contest between the two evenly-matched players was far from a classic, with most of the play consisting of baseline rallies with an occasional fine serve or return thrown in.
Davenport earned an early break to lead 2-1, only to net a forehand to end a long rally and allow Hantuchova to level at 2-2. Games then went comfortably with serve until Hantuchova earned a break point to lead 5-3, but she netted a forehand.
Davenport punished her by breaking for 5-4, forcing a forehand error from her return. Just one break decided the second set, when Davenport netted a backhand to give Hantuchova a 3-1 lead.
In the final set, Davenport all but assured herself of victory when she claimed 15 of 17 points to establish a 4-1 lead, after which Hantuchova received medical attention to what appeared to be a blister on her right ankle.
Having broken for 3-1, Davenport broke again for the match to claim her first
title since winning Zurich in October 2005.
—Reuters
