Tennis: Kuerten's fifth title crowns season of glory

THE WORLD No 1 Gustavo Kuerten ended the 2001 clay-court season in style yesterday, defeating the Argentinian Guillermo Canas 6-3, 6- 2, 6-4 in the final of the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart. The 24-year-old's victory was his fifth title on the game's slowest surface this year, after victories at Buenos Aires, Acapulco, the Masters Series in Monte Carlo and his third French Open win in Paris.

"This year on clay has been better than I could ever expect," he said. "I think I deserve to finish the claycourt season like this."

Kuerten took a five-week break after his triumph at the French Open in June, missing Wimbledon in the process. He insisted it was the right thing to do. "It has been a long year so far," he said.

Kuerten showed no sign of the thigh injury which caused him pain earlier in the tournament and said he was feeling fitter than ever before as he prepares to embark on the United States hard-court season. The win moves him into second in the Champions Race behind the American Andre Agassi and ahead of the Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero.

In Amsterdam, the No 2 seed, Alex Corretja of Spain, won the Dutch Open, beating the unseeded Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui 6-3, 5-7, 7-6, 3-6, 6- 4 in a see-saw final that lasted three hours and 40 minutes. It was Corretja's 15th career title and the first this year. The final could have gone either way until the last point with Corretja relying on his solid groundstrokes and El Aynaoui looking faster and sharper at the net.

In Umag, the top seed Carlos Moya of Spain beat the Frenchman Jerome Golmard, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, to win the Croatia Open. Moya struggled in the second and third set but in the tie-break, he allowed the Frenchman, who appeared to be suffering a sore back and foot, only two points.

In Vittel, France's women swept to a 4-1 victory over a second- string Italian team yesterday to qualify for the Fed Cup finals. The world No 7, Amelie Mauresmo, gave the French team an unbeatable 3-0 lead when she defeated Adriana Serra Zanetti 6-2, 6-0 in the third singles match. It was her first victory in the Fed Cup.

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