Top-seeded David Nalbandian posted a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory over fourth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling to win the Stockholm Open final on Sunday.
“I think I played a very solid match today,” said Nalbandian.
“Robin is a tough opponent. All our matches are very tight and this time it wasn’t different. He hits the ball very hard all the time so I had to play my best to beat him.”
Nalbandian now has a 9-8 record in ATP finals by claiming his second title this year after clinching the Buenos Aires trophy in February. He also finished runner-up at Acapulco the following week.
Nalbandian, who claimed the $156,000 first prize, then held at love to lead 5-3 and wrapped up the match with another break after Soderling double-faulted on match point.
“Overall I’m happy with my performance this week,” said Nalbandian who claimed the $156,000 first prize.
“I think I’ve played well every time I stepped in the court and this gives me some confidence going into Madrid.”
In men's doubles, top seeds Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and Zimbabwean Kevin Ullyett clinched their first team ATP title at the If Stockholm Open, after defeating Swedish wild cards Johan Brunstrom and Michael Ryderstedt 6-1, 6-3 in the dubs final, which lasted 55 minutes.
It was Bjorkman’s 700th doubles match win (700-302 lifetime). He was being carried around Centre Court in a wheelchair by Stockholm tournament staff.
"This is a perfect ending for me to win the doubles title in Stockholm, in my last match in Sweden, with my family and friends, old coaches, watching me. The only person was missing today was my son Max who is back at Monte-Carlo in school."
"We didn't want to ruin Jonas' farewell match in Sweden so we let them win [laughs]," said Ullyett the 23-year-old Stockholm resident Ryderstedt, who was appearing in the first doubles final of his career.
"They played incredible tennis and were just too good for us today."
Bjorkman and Ullyett, who started the week at No. 6 in the ATP 2008 Race with 386 points, collected €37,500 in prize money, while Brunstrom and Ryderstedt will split €22,300.
(Images via Yahoo! Sport, expressen.se)
Philipp Petzschner upset Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday in the Bank Austria Tennis Trophy final for his first ATP Tour title.
The 125th-ranked German, who had never been beyond the quarterfinals of an ATP event before, had to play two qualifying rounds to reach the main draw and became only the third qualifier this season to win an ATP tournament.
“This is unbelievable, I can’t describe my feelings now,” Petzschner said. “I will enter the top 100, which makes a dream come true.”
The 24-year-old Petzschner played his opening qualifying match less than three hours after arriving on a flight from Tokyo.
He went on to beat top-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka, former No. 1 Carlos Moya and 2004 champion Feliciano Lopez on his way to the title. “This has been an incredible week for me, everything went perfect,” Petzschner said.
The 8th-seeded Monfils has lost five of his six career finals. “I am disappointed but I had a good week anyway,” said the 28th-ranked Frenchman, who had beaten Petzschner in straight sets in their only previous match last month.
“Philipp was the better player today. He just was more aggressive so well done to him.”
Monfils will enter the ATP top 20 for his highest ranking ever. “This win gives me a lot of confidence, I now see what I have been working for all year,” Petzschner said.
“My goal next season will be to get into the top 50.”
However Petzschner and Alexander Peya of Austria lost 6-1, 7-5 to Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Andy Ram of Israel in the doubles final. Mirnyi secured his 35th career trophy, while Ram won his 14th title.
The pair was competing together for the first time this week. “It’s easy to play with Max. He told me he has won a number of tournaments multiple times with different partners. It’s easy when you pick up one of the best doubles players," said Ram.
"It’s one of my best experiences I have ever had and I certainly learned a lot from one of the best doubles players ever this week. Perhaps we’ll play together again when Jonathan [Erlich] stops playing!”
(Images via Bank Austria Tennis Throphy official website)
Igor Kunitsin, right, still appear to be shocked after his win against Marat Safin.
World no. 71, Igor Kunitsyn who played his first ATP final, upset former world number one Marat Safin 7-6 6-7 6-3 in an all-Russian Kremlin Cup final to clinch his maiden title on Sunday.
Earlier, world number one Jelena Jankovic overpowered Vera Zvonareva 6-2 6-4 in the women’s final to win her third title in a row.
“This is beyond my wildest dreams,” Kunitsyn told reporters.
“I’d never have expected to beat Marat in the final in Moscow,” added the 27-year-old from Vladivostok, who took home $171,000 in winnings to more than double his earnings for the year.
Safin, seeded 7th and bidding to claim his first title in almost four years, reached the final without hitting a ball when his semi-final opponent, German Mischa Zverev, withdrew with illness on Saturday.
The big Russian has not tasted success since winning the Australian Open in January 2005.
“I have only myself to blame,” said Safin, who also lost to compatriot Nikolay Davydenko in the 2006 final in Moscow.
“If I had won the first set, it would have been a different story but he gained confidence as the match went on, played well in the end and deserved his victory.”
Love strucked Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, left, and Vera Zvonareva of Russia pose
with their trophies after a final match.
In the women's singles, Jankovic, making her debut in Moscow, broke Zvonareva twice to take the first set in just over half an hour.
“I’ve played her twice in the last two weeks so I really knew what to expect and was focused right from the start,” said Jankovic, who pocketed $196,900 for her efforts.
“I dominated in the first set but in the second my concentration slipped a little bit but I was able to get myself together in the end.”
The 23-year-old has been playing almost non-stop in the last couple of months and must keep going for another week before taking a well-deserved rest.“I’ve worked really hard in the last three weeks, winning three titles in a row. It’s not easy,” she told reporters.
“But I still have my commitments to play next week in Zurich. Then I’ll take a two-week rest before playing (next month’s season-ending WTA Championships) in Doha.
“I’ve had a tough season, overcoming a number of injuries but I’m quite close to finishing the year ranked number one and I’m really proud of it,” she added.
Zvonareva, who reached her first Kremlin Cup final on her eighth appearance in Moscow, said she could do little to stop Jankovic.
“It seems she had an answer for everything I tried,” the 24-year-old Muscovite told a news conference.
Ross Hutchins, left, and Stephen Huss, middle, pose with their runner-up trophies beside
Sergiy Stakhovsky, right, with his winners trophy (without his partner Potito Starace),
after the doubles final.
In the men's doubles final, first-time pairing of Sergiy Stakhovsky and Potito Starace captured their first ATP doubles title with a 7-6(4), 2-6, 10-6 victory over Stephen Huss and Ross Hutchins.
The 22-year-old Stakhovsky, currently no. 167 in the Stanford ATP Doubles Rankings, was appearing in his first ATP doubles final. Earlier in the season he captured his maiden ATP singles title in his first final at Zagreb.
The 27-year-old Starace has now won three titles in four finals. He captured two titles in 2007 at Kitzbuhel and Acapulco and was runner-up at Acapulco in 2006.
“We played unbelievable doubles. We only signed up at the last moment and we can play maybe the next tournament then we’ll see," said Starace.
Nadia Petrova, left, and Katerina Srebotnik, 2nd left, pose with their trophies after winning the doubles against Cara Black, 2nd right, and Liezel Huber, right.
In the women's doubles final, top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber took on no.4 seeds Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik.
Petrova and Srebotnik pulled off the upset in straight sets, 6-4 6-4, for their first title as a team.
It was Petrova's 15th career Tour doubles title and Srebotnik's 19th.
(Images via Yahoo! Sport)
Top-seeded David Nalbandian posted a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory over fourth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling to win the Stockholm Open final on Sunday.
In men's doubles, top seeds Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and Zimbabwean Kevin Ullyett clinched their first team ATP title at the If Stockholm Open, after defeating Swedish wild cards Johan Brunstrom and Michael Ryderstedt 6-1, 6-3 in the dubs final, which lasted 55 minutes.
