DOHA, 4 March 2007 — Top seed Justine Henin of Belgium won the Qatar Open yesterday with an emphatic 6-4, 6-2 win over Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova to complete a Gulf double after winning the Dubai Open last weekend.
In the process, world No. 2 Henin also broke a four-year Russian monopoly in Qatar which began in 2003 when Anastasia Myskina won the title.
Myskina successfully defended her crown in 2004 after which Maria Sharapova and Nadia Petrova laid siege to the title in 2005 and 2006 respectively.
Henin, who won two tough three setters against Patty Schnyder and Jelena Jankovic in the quarterfinals and semifinals, yesterday was in a class of her own as she completely dominated the Russian.
Kuznetsova, who was playing the Qatar final for the second time — after her defeat to Myskina in 2004 — suffered her 14th defeat at the hands of Henin in 15 meetings, her only victory over the Belgian coming, ironically, in Doha in 2004.
• In Dubai, Roger Federer defeated unseeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 6-3 yesterday to win the Dubai Open.
It was his fourth Dubai title in five years and his 41st consecutive victory, stretching back to the beginning of the US Open in August. Bjorn Borg, whose record of consecutive wins Federer equaled, was on hand to witness the occasion. Youzhny, who upset defending champion Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals, was seeking his second crown in two weeks after winning in Rotterdam.
But he was unable to prevent Federer from claiming his seventh straight title.
Federer had several times got off to a slow start during the week. He did so again in the final, dropping his serve in the opening game when Youzhny hit a winning return off a second serve. But Federer held his second service game with an ace and then leveled at 2-2 when Youzhny hit a double-fault.
Safin and Hewitt Set Up
Las Vegas Showdown
In Las Vegas, former world No. 1s Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt set up a mouth-watering Las Vegas Open semifinal after recording confident victories over Spanish opponents on Friday.
Russian third seed Safin eased to a 6-1, 6-4 win over fifth seed Fernando Verdasco and second seed Hewitt made short work of Feliciano Lopez, easing through 6-3, 6-2.
The second semifinal will be between Russian Evgeny Korolev and Austrian fourth seed Juergen Melzer.
Having needed a third-set tiebreak to beat his compatriot Igor Kunitsyn in the previous round, Safin was on much better form as he overpowered Spain’s Verdasco.
The world No. 24 won the first five games and one break in the opening game of the second set proved enough to send him into his first semifinal of the year.
The unseeded Korolev made the most of his reinstatement as he beat American Sam Querrey 6-4, 6-4 to reach his first ever ATP Tour semifinal.
The 19-year-old, a cousin of former Russian women’s number one Anna Kournikova, saved two break points in the 10th game to serve out for the first set.
After squandering a 2-0 lead in the second, he broke again in the ninth game and held his nerve to reach the last four, where he will play Melzer who ousted unseeded Czech Jan Hernych 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Korolev was reinstated in the tournament after the ATP reversed its earlier U-turn, which had given American top seed James Blake a place in the last eight.
Moya Shocks Ferrero to
Reach Acapulco Final
Former world No. 1 Carlos Moya shocked top-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero on Friday to reach the men’s final of the WTA and ATP Mexico Open claycourt tournament.
The eighth-seeded Spaniard beat his compatriot 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 to give himself a chance at a third Acapulco title, to go with those he won in 2002 and 2004. In the final he will face Argentinian fourth seed Juan Ignacio Chela, who was trailing second-seeded compatriot Agustin Calleri when Calleri was felled by a hamstring injury. As Chela served to save the match, Calleri injured his right hamstring. He received treatment at the time and again at the changeover, but after he was unable to serve out the match at 5-4, Calleri retired.
Italy’s Flavia Penetta and France’s Emilie Loit booked their places in the women’s final. Penetta, the fifth seed, defeated compatriot Sara Errani 6-2, 6-4.
Loit battled back after dropping the first set 0-6, finally downing Germany’s Julia Schruff 0-6, 6-2, 6-1.
