GSTAAD: Pablo Andujar of Spain won his first title in more than two years on Sunday, beating Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-3, 7-5 in the Swiss Open final.

It was the 71st-ranked Andujar’s third career title, all on clay courts. He also won at Casablanca, Morocco, in 2011 and 2012.

Andujar got the only break in the first set to take a 5-3 lead and then held serve to close out the set.

Monaco, ranked No 105 two years after being in the top 10, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second and served for the set up 5-3.

But Andujar reeled off four straight games, clinching the match by holding serve at love.

On Saturday, Andujar had profited from seven double-faults off the racquet of fourth seed Fernando Verdasco in a 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 6-1 upset semi-final victory.

Monaco had claimed a place in his first final in almost a year after he defeated Robin Haase 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).

SVITOLINA RETAINS BAKU TITLE

BAKU: Elina Svitolina won the Baku Cup for the second straight year on Sunday, beating fellow rising star Bojana Jovanovski in straight sets.

The 19-year-old Ukrainian, who dropped only one set in a week of action in the Azerbaijan capital, beat the 22-year-old Serb 6-1, 7-6 (7-2).

Svitolina, ranked 37th in the world, took only 22 minutes to seal the first set. But neither player dropped a game in the second and so the Ukrainian took the title on a tie-break.

Svitolina raced to a 4-0 lead and won with her first match point against her opponent ranked 40th on the WTA list.

The defending champion had advanced to the final after beating Francesca Schiavone of Italy 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the semi-finals on Saturday while Jovanovski, the 2012 champion, defeated Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.

ISNER REACHES ATLANTA FINAL

ATLANTA: Top seed and defending champion John Isner continued his love affair with the Atlanta Open by powering his way into the final for the fourth time in the tournament’s five-year history with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over practice partner Jack Sock.

Isner avenged a quarter-final loss to Sock at Newport a fortnight ago and will face Dudi Sela in the title match after the Israeli downed Germany’s Benjamin Becker 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

The 12th-ranked Isner will be seeking his ninth career title, while the 94th-ranked Sela has qualified for only his second ATP final, six years after his first in Beijing, and will bid for his maiden title at the age of 29.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2014