LYON, France, 31 October 2005 — Top seed Andy Roddick stormed to his 20th career title yesterday when he eased past French teenager Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the Lyon ATP tournament.

The 23-year-old, world No. 3, clinched his first title in France and set him up for his assault on the Paris Masters where he is top seed next week. Roddick also had the satisfaction of taking the tournament without having dropped his service.

Monfils, the world No. 36, hit too many unforced errors to trouble the American and Roddick, the 2003 US Open winner, eased through the first set in just 24 minutes after breaking serve in the fourth game. Monfils then sent down three successive double faults at the start of the second set to increase the pressure on himself and he was broken again in the fifth game to hand Roddick the advantage.

The American then held serve to wrap up the final after just one hour on court.

Johansson Crushes Kiefer in St. Petersburg Final

In St. Petersburg, Swede Thomas Johansson thrashed Nicolas Kiefer 6-4, 6-2 in the St. Petersburg Open final yesterday to win his first title of the year.

The second seed broke German Kiefer once in the first set and twice in the second before wrapping up an emphatic win with his 10th ace. “On this quick surface all you need is a good serve,” Johansson said. “If you serve well it’s tough to return. This surface suits me perfectly and today it gave me a lot of free points.

Kiefer, who was trying to win his first ATP title since beating Mark Philippoussis in Hong Kong in 2000, wasted several chances to turn the match around, conceding numerous break points in the first and second sets.

Johansson finally capitalized on his chances in the seventh game of the first set after Kiefer saved five break points in the longest game of the match.

Clijsters Claims Ninth Title of Season

In Hasselt, Belgium, World No. 2 Kim Clijsters clinched her ninth title of the season with a 6-2 6-3 victory over Italy’s Francesca Schiavone in the final of the Belgian Open yesterday.

The US Open champion overcame a shaky start to power her way to success in front of her home crowd. Third seed Schiavone gave the top seed a bit of a fright by breaking the Belgian’s serve in the third game, only for Clijsters to break back in the next and eventually take control.

The Italian, ranked 15 in the world, had been expected to give her opponent a tougher game since this was her second final in three tournaments.

Petrova Defeats Schnyder in Linz Final

In Linz, Austria, Nadia Petrova earned her first career singles title on Sunday when she defeated Patty Schnyder 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to win the Linz Open.

The Russian third seed, who had lost the four finals she had previously contested, boosted her chance of taking part in the WTA Championships by replacing Venus Williams at eighth place in the points standings.

The season-ending event in Los Angeles, which begins on Nov. 8 features the top eight players in the standings. By reaching the final, Schnyder will move up to eighth in the world rankings, matching her career-best achieved in 1999. She is seventh in the points race for Los Angeles, with one tournament in Philadelphia to be played next week.