Spain's David Ferrer celebrates beating Belgium's Olivier
Rochus during the singles final at the Heineken Open in
Auckland. REUTERS/Nigel Marple
David Ferrer arrived in Auckland as defending Heineken
Open champion and will head to Melbourne this week as reigning
Heineken Open champion after he beat Olivier Rochus 6-3 6-4 in
today's final.
The top seed and world No 5 was too clinical for the
68th-ranked Belgian and closed out the match in 94 minutes.
Rochus caused some anxious moments for Ferrer as he continued
his impressive form of the week but the weather proved more
of a distraction and the players were forced from the court
twice as showers passed through.
It was appropriate there were two delays, given the number of
disruptions throughout the fortnight of tennis in Auckland,
but the second came at a crucial point in the contest.
The players trudged from the court with Ferrer serving for
the first set but a break point down. When they returned,
Ferrer rattled off three points, including a disputed ace, to
win the set and grab the initiative in the match.
He soon looked in a hurry, seemingly wanting to finish Rochus
off before another shower, and went up an early break in the
second set.
But Rochus wasn't so obliging. He ran, he hustled, he fought
and he even hit harder. He produced some quality tennis to
get back into the match but Ferrer is a quality player and
counter-attacked in his own style.
He served too well throughout for Rochus to build pressure
and looked in control. When he won the final point, he
slumped to the ground in joy like he had won a grand slam
title.
He became the second man in history to win the tournament
three times, his 12th on the ATP Tour, and vowed soon after
to return next year to attempt to win a fourth title.
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