Henman keeps Vienna title in Britain

Vienna, October 16: British No 1 Tim Henman followed up on Greg Rusedski's success here last year by keeping the CA Vienna ATP tournament ...

Vienna, October 16: British No 1 Tim Henman followed up on Greg Rusedski8217;s success here last year by keeping the CA Vienna ATP tournament title in Britain with a straight sets win over Germany8217;s Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday.

The 26-year-old Henman picked up his first tournament win and fifth career success, his first since he won at Basel in 1998, despite being a finalist on seven occasions since his victory in Switzerland.

For the 22-year-old Haas, he follows in the footsteps of compatriot Nicolas Kiefer, who lost to Rusedski last year adding to two other final defeats this year, both against Russian Yeveny Kafelnikov who last beat him in the final of the Sydney Olympics.

Henman used an attacking game to perfection, combining excellent concentration with brilliant volleying to dominate the game at the net and was rarely troubled.

A solid serve also proved to be an worthy weapon as he double-faulted only once in the match, that coming at the beginning of the third set and never lost a serve.

Haas reached boiling point in the third set after failing to convert an early advantage and threw his raquet on two occasions. On one occasion, the raquet almost injured a spectator.

Despite the one-sided score, points were hotly disputed but it was Henman would have the last laugh, closing out the match on his second match point.

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Rain plays spoilsport
SHANGHAI: The unwelcome tradition of rain which caused last year8217;s final to be played a day late returned to plague the 375,000 Shanghai Open on Monday, forcing cancellation of a handful of opening-day matches.

Earlier, American Paul Goldstein earned the first win of the event, beating China8217;s Yu Zhang 6-4, 7-5.

Officials indicated they were certain to cancel the evening session, featuring sixth-seeded Andrew Ilie of Australia against Russian qualifier Andrei Stoliarov and eighth-seed Jonas Bjorkman taking on Italian Davide Sanguinetti.

Swede Magnus Norman will be trying to improve his standing as he defends a trophy he won last year on a Monday over Chile8217;s Marcelo Rios.

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Chang is looking for his 13th Asian Trophy and is seeded third behind Norman and No 2 Nicolas Lapentti.

Kuerten increases lead
HAMBURG: Brazil8217;s Gustavo Kuerten increased his lead in the ATP champions race tennis rankings issued on Monday after his quarter-finals showing at last week8217;s Japan Open in Tokyo.

The top ten: 1. Gustavo kuerten, Brazil 649; 2. Marat Safin, Russia 639; 3. Pete Sampras, US 637; 4. Magnus Norman, Sweden 586; 5. Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Russia 460; 6. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia 435; 7. Alex Corretja, Spain 424; 8. Andre Agassi, US 418; 9. Thomas Enqvist, Sweden 402; 10. Tim Henman, Britain 368.