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TENNIS ROUNDUP : Ivanisevic Defeats Cherkasov to Win Romanian Open

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From Associated Press

Top-seeded Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia beat eighth-seeded Andrei Cherkasov of Russia, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), to win the $500,000 Romanian Open at Bucharest on Sunday.

“I feel good, it’s my first major victory this year,” Ivanisevic said. “Mentally, I’m doing better now, I’m more confident and therefore I hope I’ll win three or four more tournaments this year.

“I let him be confident in the second set, but I didn’t let him play his way in the first.”

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Cherkasov, who won $42,000, recovered well after losing the first set, but Ivanisevic edged him in the tiebreaker.

“I tried my best and I almost won the second set,” Cherkasov said. “He broke me twice in the first set and that made me less confident.

“Ivanisevic is still not that strong, you know. He still has those ups and downs.”

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Clay-court specialist Sergi Bruguera of Spain won his first pro title on a fast court, defeating Italy’s Diego Nargiso, 7-5, 6-2, in the Bordeaux Passing Shot tournament in France.

Bruguera, ranked No. 4 in the world, had won 10 previous titles, all on clay, including the French Open this year. It was his fifth title of the year.

Nargiso, ranked 137th, had only once gotten past the second round of a tournament this year.

Bruguera needed more than an hour to win the first set. Nargiso won the first game of the second set, then started to wilt as Bruguera raced through six of the next seven games to win the title.

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Second-seeded Shi-Ting Wang of Taiwan beat Marianne Werdel, the No. 3 seed, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, to win the $100,000 Digital Hong Kong Open.

Wang, 19, is ranked 42nd in the world. The 49th-ranked Werdel advanced to the final after upsetting top-seeded Patricia Hy of Canada, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, in the semifinals.

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