David Ferrer clinched the ATP grasscourt tournament on Saturday with a 6-4, 6-2 win over unseeded Frenchman Marc Gicquel.
The win means that for the second week in a row a Spanish player has won an ATP grasscourt title after 36 years without a trophy on the surface.
The 26-year-old Ferrer follows countryman and world No. 2 Rafael Nadal to win a grasscourt title. Last week at the Queen’s Club, Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic in the final. Prior to Nadal’s win, the last Spaniard to collect a grass court crown was Andres Gimeno in Eastbourne in 1972.
“I’m very happy with this win here in ‘s-Hertogenbosch,” Ferrer said. “This was my first appearance here and it’s great to win the title. This title means a lot to me, since it’s my first title on a grass court. It also gives me more confidence for Wimbledon.”
Thai veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn completed her dramatic run from qualifying to capture her second career title at the WTA tournament.
The 31-year-old beat Russian second seed, and French Open runner-up, Dinara Safina 7-5, 6-3 to clinch a timely boost ahead of Wimbledon which starts today.
Safina earned the first break of the match in the ninth game for a chance to serve the first set out at 5-4, but the Thai broke right back and won 10 of the last 12 points of the set. The second set remained largely on serve, but Tamarine earned the critical break in the seventh game before going on to wrap up the match.
“After she had the chance to serve out the first set I think her level fell a bit, and once I got to the second set I felt great, and that I could really win this match,” Tamarine said.
Tamarine now heads for Wimbledon where she has on six occasions reached the fourth round. She tackles the Czech Republic’s Petra Cetkovska in the first round.
■ NOTTINGHAM OPEN
AFP, NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND
Big-serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic clinched his second successive Nottingham Open title yesterday with a 7-5, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (10/8) victory over Spain’s Fernando Verdasco.
Bad weather throughout the day meant the final had to be played indoors instead of on grass, and it was the giant Croatian who triumphed after nearly two-and-a-half hours.
Karlovic missed two set points at 4-5 but Verdasco was only delaying the inevitable as a double fault gave the fourth seed the first set.
There were no breaks in the second set and a single point against the serve in the tie-break allowed Verdasco to pull level.
Karlovic looked on course for victory when he broke the Spaniard in the seventh game of the decider, but for once his big serve let him down as a double fault allowed Verdasco to level up.
Both players had seen match points come and go in the crucial tie-break before a double fault from third seed Verdasco gave Karlovic a golden chance, and he sealed victory with a calm volley.
“I was preparing for this week, so I’m really pleased that I won here. It was a little bit weird because it was indoors,” Karlovic said. “Normally you expect in the final the biggest crowds, so it was a little bit unusual, but I’m happy that I won. It was really difficult, he was playing really well and in the end it was all about one or two points. It was a close match.”
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