Chris Woodruff's climb on the ATP circuit reached another milestone Sunday when he recorded his first tournament victory at the du Maurier Canadian Open championships.
The unseeded Woodruff, a native of Knoxville, Tenn., used aggressive play and a strong serve to upset sixth-seeded Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 before a full house of 10,500 at du Maurier Stadium."This is my biggest tennis accomplishment so far," said the 24-year-old Woodruff, the 1993 NCAA champion at Tennessee who had lost in his previous two ATP tournament finals. "The first win is the toughest. I had a couple of chances last year. Now, hopefully, I'll get a few more titles."
Woodruff, who was ranked 57th in the world and will move into the top 30 when the new rankings are released Monday, won the $337,000 top prize while Kuerten, the surprise winner of the French Open earlier this year, collected $177,000.
Woodruff made his breakthrough in style, beating 16th-seeded Jan Siemerink, No. 2 Goran Ivanisevic, No. 7 Mark Philippoussis and No. 4 Yevgeny Kafelnikov to get to Kuerten.
In reaching the final, Kuerten will become the first Brazilian man ever to be ranked in the world's top 10.
Toshiba Classic
CARLSBAD, Calif. - Top-ranked Martina Hingis won her ninth title in 10 tournaments this year, beating Monica Seles 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 on Sunday in the final of the Toshiba Classic.
Hingis is 54-1 this year, losing only to Iva Majoli in the French Open final. The 16-year-old Swiss star is 5-0 lifetime against Seles, including four victories this season.
"I really felt that I wanted this match," Hingis said. "Maybe because I've always beaten her."
Seles, ranked third, had a chance to take the first set serving at 5-4, failed to score a point on her serve. She committed the second of two double faults in the game to give Hingis the break.
"I got a little flustered when a couple of serves went against me," Seles said.
Both players then held serve, forcing a tiebreaker.
Hingis jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker and closed it out when Seles hit a forehand long.
Hingis earned $79,000 to run her season total to $2,378,036.
The Challenge
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Jimmy Connors beat John McEnroe 7-6 (7-3), 6-0 Sunday in the final of The Challenge, an ATP-sanctioned tournament for players over 35.
Connors had too much in the second set for McEnroe, who has reached the final only two hours earlier after completing Saturday's rain-delayed semifinal against Bjorn Borg.
That match was suspended with Borg leading 1-0 in the final set, but McEnroe rallied to win 6-3, 3-6 7-6 (7-1).
Connors claimed the $150,000 first prize, while McEnroe took home $100,000 for finishing second.