Kiefer sustains German sporting onslaught

The 23-year-old from a village near Hanover claimed his title just a few hours after compatriot Michael Schumacher clinched the F1 title for Ferrari in Japan. Yesterday, Germany started off the run with a 1-0 win over England in a World Cup qualifier at Wembley.

Under the blazing sun, both men kept their games in solid control at the start with no breaks of serve. Kiefer saved break points in the fifth game, but got out of danger for 3-2.

Philippoussis ended the eighth with an ace and the German went to love with an ace for a 5-4 lead. The Aussie answered with a love game, 5-all.

Fourth-seed Philippoussis forced a tie-breaker with another ace, but couldn’t match the effort from Kiefer, who grabbed a 4-2 lead when the Australian netted a return.

Kiefer earned another mini-break for 5-3 and fired over an ace for three set points. Philippoussis saved the first, but an unforced error on the second gave the German the set after 54 minutes.

The Aussie broke the German twice in the second set to square the match, but lost his way totally from the start of the third.

Kiefer rolled to a 4-0 lead before Philippoussis found his feet, but the recovery was short-lived and ineffective.

A forehand into the net from the Australian gave Kiefer a pair of match points. Kiefer only needed the first as Philippoussis struck another unforced error to lose.

Serena triumphs
TOKYO: Sydney Olympic doubles champion Serena Williams celebrated her debut in Japan by beating Julie Halard-Decugis to win the singles title at the WTA Princess Cup tennis tournament on Sunday.

The American second seed, who had been struggling to hit her lightning first serves, regained her big serves at the right moment to score a 7-5, 6-1 victory over the French fourth-seed in 65 minutes.

Williams got off to a solid start, hitting three aces to score two love games, and stood firm in her service games throughout the match, never facing a single break point against her.

Although Williams missed her first break chance in the fourth game, she capitalised on a triple break opportunity when Halard-Decugis hit a cross-court drop shot wide to surrender the first set.

The spirited 1999 US Open champion, who hit a total of 10 service aces, completely dominated the second set.

Williams stretched her record against Halard-Decugis to four straight wins without a loss in major tournaments, never losing a set.

It was the American’s third title of the season, following her victories at Hannover and Los Angeles, and eighth overall.

She earned a winner’s check of $ 87,000.

Although she was beaten, Halard-Decugis appeared satisfied with her play on the outdoor hard court at the Ariake Coliseum this week.

“For sure, I’m happy to be in this final today, because I won against Monica Seles. I was not playing well before coming here, but my tennis is coming back,” said Halard-Decugis, ranked 19th against Williams’ eighth.But Julie Halard-Decugis salvaged her loss in the singles final by winning the doubles title with Japan’s ace Ai Sugiyama.

The doubles World No 1 pair, Wimbledon finalists and US Open champions, overwhelmed the second-seeded Japanese-Argentine duo of Nana Miyagi and Paola Suarez 6-0 6-2.