BANGKOK, 3 October 2005 — World No. 1 Roger Federer retained his Thailand Open title yesterday with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over British teenager Andy Murray.

Federer’s 11th title of the year extended his winning streak in finals to 24.

The Swiss, last beaten in a final in Gstaad in July 2003, has now chalked up 77 wins this season, just one short of his personal best set in 2003. Murray, 18, was appearing in his first ATP final and the Scot’s performance this week will elevate him from 109 in the world rankings to around 80.

Clijsters Makes Winning Return

After US Open Victory

In Luxemborg, Kim Clijsters of Belgium won her eighth title of the year after overpowering Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-2 6-4 in the final of the $585,000 Luxemborg Open yesterday.

The victory equalled Clijsters’s previous best title haul for a year, in 2003 when she reached No. 1 in the world. It has been a great year for Clijsters who won her first Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows last month after four defeats in finals stretching back to 2001.

Sweden’s Bjorkman

Wins in Vietnam

In Ho Chi Minh City, Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman beat Czech Radek Stepanek 6-3, 7-6 (7 4) to win the $380,000 ATP tournament yesterday.

The 33-year-old Bjorkman thereby won the sixth tournament of his career against an opponent often beaten by the power of the Swede’s shots.

The tiebreak of the second set was a key moment of the match when Bjorkman led 5-1 but almost let Stepanek back in the game as he won three points in a row to trail by 5-4.

It was a chance of a first title missed by Stepanek who this season has lost in the final in Milan and in semi-finals at both Barcelona and Queens.

Vaidisova Downs Jankovic

to Win Korea Open

In Seoul, Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic defeated top seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in the final of the Korea Open yesterday to claim her first title of the year.

Vaidisova, the tournament’s youngest player at the age of 16 and ranked 24 in the world, routed Jankovic, the world No. 17, 7-5, 6-3.

The second-seeded Czech, who won two titles in Vancouver and Tashkent last year in her debut season, did not drop a set throughout the 140,000-dollar tournament.

Jankovic, who endured a three-hour semi-final against rising French star Tatiana Golovin on Saturday, appeared not to have fully recovered from the ordeal, and needed treatment throughout the match.