Tim Henman outdueled Marc Rosset of Switzerland to win the President's Cup tournament Sunday, the second ATP Tour title for the young British player.
Henman, the No. 2 seed, defeated Rosset, who was seeded third, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.Rosset started strong, breaking Henman's serve in the first game, but then lost his serve in the fourth game while double faulting three times.
Henman, who was ranked 20th on the ATP Tour before the tournament, said after Sunday's match that he felt good all week and was playing "very pure" tennis.
Henman, 23, who started off the year by winning the Sydney International, revenged his loss to Rosset in the final at Antwerp, Belgium, in February.
Rosset earned his berth in Sunday's final by ousting the No. 1 seed, Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia, in three sets. Henman had an easier time disposing of sixth-seeded Francisco Clavet of Spain in Saturday's semifinals.
The newly established tournament is being played at the Yunsubad Tennis Center in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, completed just in time to host the $405,000 ATP Tour event.
Marbella Open
MARBELLA, Spain - Top seed Albert Costa defeated No. 2 Alberto Berasategui 6-3, 6-2 Sunday in an all-Spanish final of the $328,000 Marbella Open.
Costa, ranked 15th in the world, was the aggressor through nearly all of the 53-minute match on the clay courts of the Manuel Santana tennis club in the southern resort city of Marbella.
After the victory, Costa said he had had "a lot of luck" defeating Berasategui, ranked world No. 26.
Samsung tourney
BOURNEMOUTH, England - Felix Mantilla beat fellow Spaniard Carlos Moya 6-2, 6-2 Sunday to capture the Samsung clay-court tournament.
It was Mantilla fifth tournament title this season - all on clay. It also improved his career record on clay against Moya - ranked No. 5 by the ATP Tour - to three wins in seven matches.
"We know each other's game very well," said the 22-year-old Mantilla who, like Moya, lives in Barcelona.
"I didn't make any mistakes, my game was almost perfect," Mantilla added. "During the week I didn't play that well, but I was determined to concentrate for this match."
Mantilla, ranked No. 11, previous won tournaments this year in Bologna, Italy; Gstaad, Switzerland; Umag, Croatia; and San Marino.
Japan beats U.S. in exhibition
KOBE, Japan - Naoko Kijimuta beat Kimberly Po of Incline Village, Nev., 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) Sunday to give Japan a 4-3 victory over the United States in the Sony-Life Cup.
Japan won two singles and two doubles in the three-day exhibition event, and received $250,000 in prize money.
The United States won three singles - two by Monica Seles and one by Jennifer Capriati. The American team won $125,000.
Playing before more than 4,000 spectators at the Green Arena Kobe on Sunday, Kijimuta, No. 57 in the world, overpowered Po, No. 18, with her speed. Po, who lost to Ai Sugiyama 6-1, 6-0 Saturday, seemed to play far beneath her normal standards.
In the only doubles match Sunday, Japan's Naoko Sawamatsu and Yuka Yoshida beat Po and Chanda Rubin 2-6, 7-5, 7-5.
In the other two singles Sunday. Seles, No. 2, beat Ai Sugiyama, Japan's top player and ranked 34th, 6-1, 6-4; and Capriati, 33rd, beat Yoshida, 61st, 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-3.