MONTREAL — Nineteen-year-old Rafael Nadal won on a hardcourt for the first time, beating 35-year-old Andre Agassi 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the Rogers Cup final Sunday.
The French Open champ's left-handed shotmaking got the better of Agassi, who was missing the lines with his winners in a baseline battle interrupted 58 minutes after the first set by rain.
It was the top-seeded Spaniard's third victory in a row and his ATP-tour-leading ninth tournament win of the year. His eight previous wins, including the French Open, were on slower clay courts.
Nadal, who has a 16-match winning streak, won $400,000 while Agassi pocketed $200,000.
Fourth-seeded Agassi, who was coming off a win in Los Angeles two weeks ago, ended a 10-match winning streak.
It was the first meeting between Nadal, considered the sport's next superstar, and Agassi, who has won 60 tournaments, including eight grand slams, in his 19-year career.
CARSON CLASSIC: Kim Clijsters won her WTA Tour-leading fifth title of the year, defeating Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-1 in the JPMorgan Chase Open final Sunday in Carson, Calif.
Clijsters improved to 31-1 in the United States since winning the season-ending WTA Championships in November 2003.
The 22-year-old Belgian was projected to move from 10th to eighth when the world rankings are released Monday. That will be her highest spot since October 2004, before she missed more than four months because of wrist surgery.
Clijsters needed just over an hour to polish off Hantuchova, who was playing in her first final in more than a year.
SHARAPOVA OUT: Maria Sharapova pulled out of the Rogers Cup on Sunday due to a strained chest muscle.
Sharapova, the top seed in the $1.3 million tournament, hoped to play at the Toronto event but after receiving treatment over the weekend she was advised not to hit any balls until Wednesday or Thursday. She withdrew from her quarterfinal match at the JPMorgan Chase Open in California on Friday due to the injury.
Her withdrawal means the seeds will be shuffled. The top eight have a bye in the first round.
The news about Sharapova comes two days after Venus Williams dropped out due to the flu. No. 13-ranked Australian Alicia Molik and No. 16 Russian Elena Bovina also withdrew.