Hungry Hantuchova retains crown

Slovakian beats Kirilenko at Pattaya Open

Daniela Hantuchova of the Slovak Republic outlasted Russia's Maria Kirilenko 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-3 to claim back-to-back titles in the US$220,000 PTT Pattaya Open at the Dusit Thani Hotel Pattaya yesterday.

The third seed rallied from a set down to beat her inspired opponent, seeded fourth, after three hours and 14 minutes for her fifth career title. The last time Hantuchova lifted a title was in Pattaya 12 months ago.

"I'm happy to be able to defend my title. This is the first time in my career. It's better late than never. We both wanted to win the title. Even after I lost the first set, I kept fighting and never looked back. This victory is special for me," Hantuchova said.

Hantuchova became only the second player after Vera Zvonareva to win in successive years. The Russian achieved it in 2009-2010. The champion took home US$37,000 while Kirilenko earned $19,100 as runner-up. With the latest victory Hantuchova extended her head-to-head lead over the Russian 5-2.

Hantuchova served a double fault to hand the first game to Kirilenko in the first set. She had opportunities to break at 2-3 and 3-4 but on each occasion Kirilenko came up with some well-placed serves and got off the hook. Hantuchova broke for five-all after wrong-footing Kirilenko with a backhand down-the-line winner on her fifth breakpoint.

In the tie-break Hantuchova missed an easy drop volley at 2-3, lost four points in a row to face triple set point at 3-6. Kirilenko missed a backhand to lose the next point but finally closed out the first set after the Slovak netted a backhand. The set lasted an hour and 14 minutes.

In the second set, Hantuchova drew first blood at the start and went on to lead 5-3. She set up a set point with a backhand crosscourt winner and took the 49-minute set when the Russian pounded a forehand into the net.

After Kirilenko called for a trainer to check her right hip, she went back to court to play the third set and dropped her first service game. Though she broke right back, Kirilenko double-faulted to hand the crucial break for Hantuchova to go up 5-3. The Slovakian blasted two forehand down the line winners to close out the match.

"It's difficult to play in the heat. I played well in the Fed Cup and I wanted to keep the momentum here. But I love the conditions here as the courts are in the hotel and near the beach and the people are nice. I always play well under good conditions,'' the Slovak said.

Hantuchova admitted she was a superstitious person and had stuck to the same menu for the past seven days - chicken fried rice and salad. But having won the final, she could not wait to try something different. "It could be a pizza or anything. I also kept eating the same thing in Indian Wells and I won. I also love sticky rice with mangoes, which is my favourite Thai food. My hitting partner was bringing it to me all these days,'' the champion said with a smile.

Harrison gives US 4-0 lead

Teenager Ryan Harrison made a winning Davis Cup debut for the United States yesterday, beating Switzerland's Michael Lammer 7-6 (0) 7-6 (4) to extend the Americans' lead to 4-0 in their first-round match.

Harrison stepped up his play in the tie-breakers after showing an impressive all-round game to win in 2 hours, 14 minutes.

The 19-year-old right-hander was selected by captain Jim Courier after the US sealed victory on Saturday, when Mardy Fish and Mike Bryan beat Olympic doubles champions Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka.

The Davis Cup was beyond Federer's reach for another year, while defending champions Spain, Argentina, the Czech Republic and United States advanced to the quarter-finals on Saturday.

Federer played the first round this week for the first time in eight years, and hand-picked the indoor clay-court in Fribourg believing it to be better suited to Switzerland than the visiting Americans.

But after losing his singles to John Isner on Friday, Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka, the Olympic doubles champions, lost to Mardy Fish and Mike Bryan 4-6 6-3 6-3, 6-3 to end the tie as a contest.

Other 3-0 winners were Spain over Kazakhstan, 2011 runner-up Argentina over Germany, and the Czechs against Italy.

Serbia, the 2010 champions, were stalled when Sweden won the doubles 10-8 in the fifth set, and Russia avoided losing in Wiener Neustadt when they won a five-set doubles over the surprisingly gritty Austrians.

France took a 2-1 lead over Canada after the doubles in Vancouver. In Tokyo, Ivo Karlovic pulled off his third win of the week to beat Go Soeda and give Croatia a 3-2 victory over Japan in the Davis Cup tennis World Group first round tie yesterday.