ESTORIL, Portugal, 2 May 2005 — Gaston Gaudio swept away Spain’s Tommy Robredo 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 to win the 532,000-euro Estoril Open yesterday and keep his preparations for the defense of his French Open title firmly on course.
The second-seeded Argentine breezed through the opening set and overcame a wobble in the second before steadying himself to earn his third title of the season - all on clay - with the victory in one hour, 48 minutes.
The win also gave the Argentine a 24-7 match record in 2005 with the start of the French Open now just three weeks away.
Gaudio converted on five of 14 break points against fourth seeded Robredo, whose best previous result in a season of injury was a semifinal in Dubai three months ago.
The Argentine added the Estoril crown to titles he won in Viqa del Mar and Buenos Aires in February.
“It’s great to win another title so close to Roland Garros,” said the South American winner. “It’s great for the confidence.
“Tommy and I have always played very tough matches.”
The loss came on Robredo’s 23rd birthday as he comes back from a shoulder injury.
In the women’s final, qualifier Lucie Safarova capped the best week of her career Sunday, upsetting fourth seed Na Li 6-7 (4 7), 6-2, 6-3.
Safarova began the week at 155th but is due for a rise after her feat at the Estadio Nacional while Na is projected to move up to 35th in Monday’s rankings, the best ever for a Chinese woman. Na came into the match after having dispatched second seed Dinara Safin 6-1, 6-1 in their semi-final. But the Chinese was taken by surprise when it counted against the 18-year-old Czech, playing her first career final.
Nalbandian Cruises to Munich Victory
In Munich, Argentine top seed David Nalbandian made short work of Romania’s Andre Pavel to take the Munich Open with a 6-4, 6-1 victory in yesterday’s final.
Nalbandian’s first ATP tournament win since 2002 came in just 69 minutes and earned him a new car from the sponsors as well as the 44,000 euros ($56,870) first prize.
“It wasn’t easy,” Nalbandian said after his breezy win on the Munich clay. “You have to work to play like this and I’ve been practising very hard.
“This was a very important win for me, my first after two strange years with so many injuries.”
Nalbandian’s perfect placement never gave the fifth-seeded Pavel a chance, as the Argentine won the first set with a single break before taking complete command in the second.
He consolidated an early break for 3-1, ran Pavel out wide to set up a break-point in the next and took it when the Romanian mishit an easy forehand into the bottom of the net. Nalbandian set up three match-points with a stunning return that left his opponent flat-footed. Pavel clipped the line with a forehand to save the first but could not reach a vicious Nalbandian backhand on the next.
Henin-Hardenne Bags Warsaw Title
In Warsaw, former world number one Justine Henin-Hardenne claimed her second successive claycourt title when she defeated US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 to win the Warsaw WTA event yesterday.
The unseeded Belgian, who secured the Family Circle Cup in Charleston a fortnight ago, has now won two of the three events she has played since returning from illness and injury at Key Biscayne in March.
Her only loss came against Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals there.
“It’s good that I’ve had a lot of matches. That was the main goal. Now I have a couple of matches on clay, and that gives me a lot of confidence before the French Open,” said Henin-Hardenne.
“I still have to work a little bit more on being aggressive. I win, but I think I can still do better, and that’s what I have to be focused on.
“It’s going to be important to me that I don’t get tired like I did in the last few years, so I have to be aggressive so I don’t have long rallies like I did today.” The Belgian was forced to dig deep in a contest that stretched to over two hours. Both players struck the ball strongly from the baseline, with Russian Kuznetsova’s forehand counteracting Henin-Hardenne’s often spectacular backhand.
