The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Safarova wins

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 02, 2005

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Sport - Tennis

Safarova wins

Title for David Nalbandian

OEIRAS: Czech qualifier Lucie Safarova beat fourth-seeded Na Li of China to win the women's Estoril Open final 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday. Safarova took 2 hours, 17 minutes to win her first career final against a player ranked 115 places higher than her.

The Czech, ranked 155th in the world, made 10 double faults to Li's three in the first set. But Li couldn't hold on to her advantage as Safarova fought back to win the next two sets.

At Warsaw, Justine Henin-Hardenne denied Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova her first title of the year when she claimed a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory in the WTA Warsaw Cup final.

The unseeded Belgian, who recently lost to Kuznetsova in the Indian Wells quarterfinals, extended her winning run to 11 matches and claimed her second clay court title in succession after defeating Elena Dementieva to win in Charleston two weeks ago.

Disappointing final

At Munich, the top-seeded Argentine David Nalbandian won the BMW Open needing just over an hour to crush Romanian fifth seed Andrei Pavel 6-4, 6-1 in a disappointing final. It was Nalbandian's first tournament win since 2002 and the top seed was delighted to pick up the 52,000 euro winner's cheque and a BMW Z4 car worth an estimated 40,000 euros.

"I have practised hard all year and today it all paid off," said Nalbandian. "I have not won a tournament since 2002 with injuries and loss of form hindering me in 2003 and 2004. I have got better here with every match and am delighted to win the tournament. Hopefully it is the start of a great 2005 for me."

The results:

At Warsaw (J&S Cup): Final: Justine Henin-Hardenne bt Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6, 6-2, 7-5. Semifinal: Justine Henin-Hardenne bt Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 7-5.

At Munich (ATP BMW Open): Final: David Nalbandian bt Andrei Pavel 6-4, 6-1. Semifinal: Nalbandian bt Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 6-0.

At Oeiras (Estoril Open): Men: Semifinal: Gaston Gaudio bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.

Women: Final: Lucie Safarova bt Na Li 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3. — Agencies

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