Sun, Jan 18, 2004 - Page 22 News List

Woodbridge sets mark for doubles

PROFESSIONAL TENNISTodd Woodbridge, along with partner Jonas Bjorkman, won the championship at the adidas International, giving the Australian his 79th title

AP , SYDNEY, MELBOURNE AND CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA AND AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

Farina Elia showed her displeasure with the result when she entered the post-match press conference and removed the crystal winner's cup from the interview table.

She said the umpire, a Canberra official, failed to treat the controversial call as a match point.

"To overrule the match point, the ball must be very, very out but the call was very late," Farina Elia said. "This is part of the game, I know, but it's hard because I don't know if the ball was good or not but ... it's really difficult to see."

It was Suarez's first win in three matches against Farina Elia.

"Every set, she started to play really well ... and then I come back a little bit, I play a little bit better," Suarez said. "The last few games was really, really close.

"The winner was only one ball and I was lucky."

Heineken Open

Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia won his second straight ATP Tour title Saturday, beating Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the final of the US$404,000 Heineken Open.

Winner of the AAPT Championships in Adelaide last week, the unseeded Hrbaty claimed his sixth title from nine finals and his second from three final appearances in Auckland.

Hrbaty won the Auckland title in 2001 and was runner-up last year to Gustavo Kuerten, the third-seeded Brazilian whom he beat in Friday's semifinals.

Nadal, a 17-year-old playing his first ATP final, was a service break up in the deciding set.

"I was very tired in the final," said Hrbaty. "In the first set I didn't think I could do it because I was feeling so tired after Adelaide and he was making me run around so much.

"There was just a special moment in the match when I told myself I had to win."

Nadal made a tentative start to the match and gave up his serve on an unforced error at advantage in the opening game. He struggled at first against Hrbaty's deep and sharply-angled ground strokes and the Slovakian's ability to make the ball skid low on the Rebound Ace surface.

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