Jim Courier ended a surprising run by Chris Woodruff on Sunday, beating the qualifier 6-4, 6-3 for the U.S. Indoor championship.
The superb serves and string-shredding groundstrokes by the No. 2 seed were too much for Woodruff, who won only nine points against his opponent's serve.Courier, who earned $110,000 by winning the 19th title of his career, was dominant throughout the tournament. He won 61 of 89 games, didn't drop a set and saved 14 of 17 break points against him this week.
"I served the ball extremely well today, for sure," Courier said. "It is not easy to beat me when I'm on like that."
Courier, who was ranked No. 1 for 58 weeks in 1992-93, is on a mission to return to the top.
"It's a long way for me to get back, but this is definitely a start - a step in the right direction," Courier said. "It feels good to win here. It is a good feeling to win on home soil."
Both players stayed on serve until the last game of the opening set when Courier broke Woodruff at 15. On set point, Courier ripped a forehand return that landed at Woodruff's toes. Woodruff hit it sharply, but long.
Courier broke Woodruff at 30 in the second game of the next set and then served his fourth love game of the match in the third.
Woodruff had a break point in the final game - his only one of the day - but he volleyed a backhand into the net. Two points later, Woodruff returned a serve into the net and the 73-minute match was over.
This was the first meeting between the two Americans, who have practiced together on numerous occasions and are good friends.
The last qualifier to win an ATP Tour title was Filip Dewulf, who won in Austria in October 1995. The last American qualifier to win was in 1987, and the last qualifier to win a U.S. event was in 1982.
In the doubles final, top-seeded Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge, who were both singles semifinalists, defeated No. 3 seeds Byron Black and Grant Connell 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 to win their 31st title together.
At Milan, Italy, Big-serving Goran Ivanisevic captured his third title of the year by defeating Marc Rosset in straight sets Sunday at the Italian Indoors.
Ivanisevic won 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) to earn the top prize of $128,000. He began the match with an ace and ended it with a first-serve point. He served 20 aces and never gave Rosset a chance for a break.
Ivanisevic won his 15th career title and improved his record this year to 25-3.
Frustrated by Ivanisevic's serves in the second set, Rosset briefly exchanges roles with a linesman, giving him his racket and sitting on a chair. Ivanisevic then did the same thing, drawing applause from the crowd.
In the second-set tiebreaker, a double fault and two unforced errors by Rosset helped Ivanisevic take a 4-1 lead. A backhand passing shot and a first-serve winner by Ivanisevic quickly ended the match.
Both players said they were looking forward to the Olympic Games in Atlanta, where Rosset will defend the title he won for Switzerland at Barcelona.
"The Olympics are very important for me, because I'm proud to represent Croatia at Atlanta," Ivanisevic said.