BARCELONA, 3 May 2004 — Spaniard Tommy Robredo won a tightly contested Barcelona Open final yesterday, beating former champion Gaston Gaudio of Argentina 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in a grueling four-hour, rally-packed match.

Robredo dominated at the start, breaking Gaudio’s service in the second game and consolidating his lead with assured and imaginative shots to claim the set, while the less focused Argentine clung cautiously to the baseline.

Thirteenth seed Gaudio, who won the tournament in 2002, came out more aggressively in the second set, however, challenging Robredo at the net. Although the change of tactics initially seemed to generate more errors than points, an undaunted Gaudio came back from 2-4 down to win the set.

A refocused Robredo gave his opponent room to claim only two games in the third set, which he sealed with two successive aces in the eighth game. The eighth-seeded Spaniard was relaxed as he began the fourth set, but then lost his concentration allowing Gaudio to break his serve and go on to level the scores.

In the final set a tired-looking Robredo struggled at first to hold onto his own service games but revived enough to break Gaudio’s serve in the sixth game and go 4-2 up.

The Argentine looked to have a chance when he built up a 40-15 lead as Robredo was serving for the match, but the Spaniard called a break for physiotherapy on a leg that had been troubling him throughout the match, and returned to claim the title.

Davydenko Drives Away With BMW Crown as Verkerk Falls

In Munich, Germany, Russian Nikolay Davydenko continued his giant-killing act to defeat fourth seeded Dutchman Martin Verkek 6-4, 7-5 in the final of the the 375,750 euro ($444,450) BMW Open yesterday.

The 22-year-old Davydenko, ranked 48th in the world, produced an inspired display to triumph over clay specialist Verkerk and build on his wins over sixth seed Andrei Pavel and top seed Rainer Schuettler earlier in the competition.

Davydenko picks up 52,000 euros ($62,000) for his victory — his third title in all — and a BMW-Cabrio 24 worth an estimated 40,000 euros ($47,000). “It will go well in my garage,” enthused Davydenko.

Verkerk, 25, had failed to drop a set in the competition but Davydenko, a quarter-finalist in Monte Carlo, needed just 41 minutes to change that statistic thanks to some ferocious groundstrokes.

Polished Williams Banishes Sour Memories of Last Year

In Warsaw, Venus Williams defeated Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-4 to win the J and S Cup title in Warsaw yesterday.

It was her second straight victory, following her recent win in Charleston, and did much to banish her memories of the 2003 final, which she conceded, to Amelie Mauresmo.

The second seeded American retired when down 3-0 in the third set of that match after suffering a stomach muscle strain that eventually led to her missing the second half of last season.

Fourth seeded Kuznetsova, who won their February meeting in Dubai, was rarely able to mount a challenge in the face of an aggressive performance from Williams.