Tennis - Youzhny overcomes Haase in Gstaad, Robredo triumphs in Croatia
Tennis - Youzhny overcomes Haase in Gstaad, Robredo triumphs in Croatia
Mikhail Youzhny won his ninth career title with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Robin Haase in Gstaad, while Tommy Robredo overcame Fabio Fognini 6-0 6-3 in the final at Umag.
Youzhny, 31, overcame Dutchman Haase in an hour and nine minutes to become the first Swiss Open champion from Russia since Yevgeny Kafelnikov in 1995.
He is also the 12th over-30 to win an ATP title this year, as men’s tennis increasingly starts to favour the more experienced player.
“I’m very happy,” the world number 33 said afterwards. “When you win a tournament it doesn’t matter how you play or who you beat.
“My last title was at the start of last year in Zagreb, so it’s been quite long. I’m trying everything to play more consistently at a high level.”
One break per set was enough for Youzhny, who converted his third match point against a Haase who has never beaten the Russian in five attempts
Haase said he was happy to come second after suffering knee problems in recent weeks.
“I didn’t feel well last weekends and had some problems with my knee, which was pretty swollen,” the world number 57 said.
“And now I’m here as a runner-up and that’s great. (Youzhny) is a great player and I never beat him.”
The result ended a 13-match winning streak for world number 19 Fognini, who had won the last two tournaments he played in, at Hamburg and Stuttgart.
Robredo extends his career record over Fognini to 4-1, having beaten his second-seeded compatriot Andreas Seppi in the semis.
