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Men's Tennis
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Women's Tennis
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| Sunday, May 13 Updated: May 14, 9:05 AM ET |
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| Ferrero comes back twice to beat Kuerten Associated Press | |||
ROME -- Juan Carlos Ferrero beat top-seeded Gustavo Kuerten
in five sets Sunday to win the Italian Open in a final between the
two sharpest clay-court players this season.
Ferrero enjoyed the biggest victory of his young career, winning
3-6, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 against the reigning French Open champion.
This was the Spaniard's fourth title of 2001, more than any
other player on the men's circuit.
Ferrero's three previous titles came in smaller tournaments. He
has won 11 straight matches. The loss ended a 10-match winning
streak for Kuerten, who finished last season No. 1 in the ATP
rankings.
Kuerten will still arrive at Roland Garros in two weeks as the
favorite. But with Ferrero's strong showing at Foro Italico, where
he hadn't lost a set before the finals -- he will be one of the
Brazilian's biggest threats.
Playing in his first Masters Series finals, the eighth-seeded
Ferrero kept his composure down the stretch while Kuerten seemed to
run out of steam.
Kuerten, who won last month in Monte Carlo, looked impressive
all week, but he could not keep up with the relentless
groundstrokes of the 21-year-old Spaniard.
Ferrero completed the match with an ace, raising his arms and
turning his head toward the cloudless sky. He earned $400,000 for
the victory, with Kuerten taking home $211,000.
Kuerten won this event in 1999 before losing in the final last
year to Magnus Norman.
This was first time Kuerten faced Ferrero since a five-set
semifinal at last year's French Open on his way to a second Paris
title.
In Saturday's semifinals, Kuerten beat Sweden's Andreas
Vinciguerra and Ferrero downed Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti.
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ALSO SEE Sunday's results Clay clash: Improved Ferrero to meet Kuerten in Italian Open final | |
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