DEN BOSCH (Netherlands), June 25: Croatia's Mario Ancic successfully defended his Den Bosch men's title on Saturday, beating Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic 6-0, 5-7, 7-5.
Dutch teenager Michaella Krajicek, sister of 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek, beat Russian number two seed Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-4 to win the women's title.
Ancic's performance at the Wimbledon warm-up tournament put him back in the top 10 of the ATP rankings.
Results of semi-finals:
Men’s singles: Jan Hernych (Czech Republic) beat Florent Serra (France) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3); 3-Mario Ancic (Croatia) beat 6-Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.
Women’s singles: Michaella Krajicek (Netherlands) beat 1-Elena Dementieva (Russia) 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4; 2-Dinara Safina (Russia) beat Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
GASQUET MAKES HISTORY
NOTTINGHAM: France’s Richard Gasquet made history here on Saturday as he defeated Jonas Bjorkman 6-4, 6-3 to become the first man to retain the Nottingham Open grass-court title.
Gasquet, 20, showed why he is regarded as one of the most talented young players on the circuit with a convincing win against two-time Nottingham winner Bjorkman.
The veteran Swede had won the event in 1998 and 2002 and was bidding for a unique hat trick of victories, but Gasquet’s aggressive serve and volley tactics enabled him to take control from the start.
Results of semi-finals:
Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) beat Andreas Seppi (Italy) 6-3, 6-1; Richard Gasquet (France) beat Robin Soederling (Sweden) 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-5).
HENIN WINS AT EASTBOURNE
EASTBOURNE: French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne won a closely fought final at the Eastbourne grasscourt tournament on Saturday, beating Russian Anastasia Myskina 4-6, 6-1, 7-6.
The Belgian world number three squandered three championship points in the third set to allow Myskina to take the contest into a tiebreak.
At 6-4 up in the tiebreak, Henin-Hardenne put a backhand long but she hit a forehand winner on the next point to clinch the match in exactly two hours.
Results of semi-finals:
5-Anastasia Myskina (Russia) beat 4-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4; 3-Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) beat 2-Kim Clijsters (Belgium) 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.—Agencies