STOCKHOLM, 27 October 2003 — American Mardy Fish finally won his first ATP title yesterday after he beat Swedish wild card Robin Soderling 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 at the Stockholm Open.
It was an emotional win for the fifth seed, who lost three straight finals earlier during the year.
The 19-year-old Soderling came back from a break down in the second set to level the match following some uninspiring play by the American.
Fish tired in the deciding set but survived thanks to his phenomenal serve and some simple mistakes by Soderling, who wasted a 2-0 lead in the tie-break with a wide forehand. Fish went 4-2 up with a cross-court forehand pass and then held his serve for 6-3. Soderling saved a match point before Fish clinched the tie-break 7-4.
The win put 21-year-old Fish into the top 20 of the ATP’s entry rankings system for the first time of his career.
Coria Wins Swiss Title as Nalbandian Pulls Out
In Basel, Switzerland, Argentina’s Guillermo Coria won his fifth title of the year after injured compatriot David Nalbandian pulled out yesterday’s Swiss Indoors final.
Nalbandian, like Coria returning from injury, withdrew before the title match citing a recurrence of the wrist problem that has bothered him since the US Open in September. The 21-year-olds had been due to meet in their first indoor final but Nalbandian woke up with a sore wrist after his tough semifinal victory over heavy-serving top seed Andy Roddick.
Kuerten Too Strong for Sargsian in St. Petersburg
Brazil’s Gustavo Kuerten easily saw off unseeded Armenian Sargis Sargsian 6-4, 6-3 yesterday to capture the St. Petersburg Open title on his first visit to Russia’s second city. Third seed Kuerten was by far the more consistent player from the baseline and he controlled the tempo of the match to win his second title this year and 19th of his career.
Sugiyama Downs Nervous Petrova to Lift Linz Title
In Linz, Austria, second seed Ai Sugiyama of Japan defeated a nervous Nadia Petrova 7-5, 6-4 to win the final of the $585,000 Linz tournament yesterday.
Sugiyama, 28, dominated her Russian opponent from the start, pressurizing the fourth seed into making repeated errors.
The 21-year-old Russian briefly rallied to level the score after trailing 5-3 in the first set but Sugiyama then won four games in a row to snatch the first set and take a decisive lead in the second. It was Sugiyama’s fifth career title and her second this year after beating Belgian Kim Clijsters in Scottsdale in March. It also kept alive her hopes of qualifying for the end-of-season Tour Championships in Los Angeles starting on Nov. 3.
