Tim Henman would have waited as long as necessary to earn his first ATP title in more than a year.
Henman weathered a lengthy rain delay and beat Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 6-4 Sunday at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic. It was Henman's first championship since he had shoulder surgery in November.
"When you look at the context of the last 12 months, it's been a difficult time for me with my injury," said Henman, who won US$74,250. "Now I feel like I've put that behind me. I knew that this was going to be a good opportunity to really start building with respect to my game."
The 10th-seeded Henman outlasted the nearly 1-hour delay to claim the 10th title of his career. The last was in January 2002, at Adelaide, Australia.
Rain chased players from the court just five minutes into the match with Henman leading 1-0. When play resumed, Henman raced to a 4-0 advantage.
"It can be frustrating to have those type of interruptions, but kind of getting you're nose in front is always better than when you're behind," Henman said.
Mercedes-Benz Cup
Wayne Ferreira overcame three match points, a nagging groin injury and searing heat to beat top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in the Mercedes-Benz Cup final Sunday.
It was Ferreira's first ATP Tour title in nearly three years. Ferreira, 31, and 33-year-old Andre Agassi (four titles) are the only over-30 players to win tournaments so far this year.
He became the first South African to win the 77-year-old tournament, which was won by Americans the last seven years.
"I'm over the moon," he said. "I shouldn't have even been playing and here I win the tournament. Every time I walk through there and see the past champions, they're the best in the world and my name is up there."
Acura Classic
Justine Henin-Hardenne rebounded from a tough first set to beat No. 2 seed Kim Clijsters 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the finals of the Acura Classic on Sunday.
Henin-Hardenne, bothered by a blister on the bottom of her right foot this week, got what appeared to be a much-needed reprieve at the end of the first set when she called for a WTA trainer.
She had the blister on her foot bandaged during the five-minute injury timeout. When the players came out for the second set, Henin-Hardenne won four straight games and broke Clijsters' serve twice while losing just one point.
The two Belgians slugged it out in the third set until Henin-Hardenne registered the only break of the set in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead. Henin-Hardenne finished off the match with a forehand volley to win US$165,000 for her fifth title of the season, tying her with Clijsters for the Tour lead. Clijsters won US$94,500.
The pair met at the French Open, where Henin-Hardenne became the first woman from Belgium to win a Grand Slam title with a 6-0, 6-4 win. She improved her career record against Clijsters to 7-8, including 3-3 this season.
Henin-Hardenne, ranked third in the world, has had little success against Clijsters on hardcourt surfaces, losing four of five matches. But she showed she can play well on other surfaces besides just clay.
But after the injury timeout, the complexion of the match completely changed. Suddenly, Clijsters began missing her shots with regularity and looked nothing like the player who won her first four matches in straight sets.
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