Radek Stepanek upset second-seeded James Blake 7-6 (9-7), 5-7, 6-2 to win the ATP Countrywide Classic.
It was the second career title for Stepanek, who entered the match with a 13-15 record this season. He advanced to the final when wild card Nicolas Kiefer of Germany withdrew due to a sore knee.
Stepanek saved three set points in the first set against Blake. “He moves in to the net very well and volleys very well,” Blake said.
“My game plan a lot of times was to try take the net away and make him come up with passing shots.”
Stepanek, who’s engaged to women’s tennis star Martina Hingis, won his first career title at Rotterdam last year before he suffered a dislocated disk in his neck that temporarily left the Czech without the use of his right arm.
The 28-year-old sat out the rest of the year, exercising and hoping he would regain use of the arm, and had struggled during his comeback before arriving here.
“The feeling (of winning) is different,” said Stepanek, who was number eight in the world before his injury. I know what I went through, it was a tough time in my career, so this title means a lot more than the first one. Emotionally, it means much more.”
Sania-Bethanie win
Sania Mirza claimed her second doubles title of the year as she combined with Bethanie Mettack of the United States to clinch the Western and Southern Financial Group Women’s Open at the Cincinnati Open, adds UNI.
Unlike their previous matches, the top seeded Indo-US duo had to fight hard to finally win 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 against the unseeded Russian-Belarussian pair of A Jidkova and T Poutchek.
The two teams stayed pretty close throughout the match, except for a small 3-1 second set lead for Jidkova and Poutchek that evaporated almost as quickly as it materialised.
The win was Sania’s fifth career Tour doubles title and the second of the year, the first being the Morocco Open, when she paired with Vania King in May.
Easy for Chakvetadze
Meanwhile, top-seeded Anna Chakvetadze won her third title of the year when she downed seventh-seeded Akiko Morigami 6-1, 6-3 in the singles final, adds AP.
The 20-year-old remained perfect in WTA Tour finals with a 5-0 record after winning titles in Guangzhou and Moscow last year, and at Hobart and Hertogenbosch this year.