Roger Federer kept alive his grass winning streak and captured his 55th title yesterday with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany.
Federer, who sailed through the Wimbledon warmup without dropping set, ran his record unbeaten run on grass to 59 matches.
The 40th-ranked German netted a backhand after a long rally to end the match.
"I never lost my serve in this tournament, that had never happened to me," Federer said. "That was very special."
The top-ranked Swiss restored some confidence after one of his worst defeats in the French Open final last Sunday at the hands of rival Rafael Nadal. He took just four games.
Federer, who raised his record to 10-0 in grass finals, won Halle for the fifth time. The previous four were followed by Wimbledon triumphs three weeks later.
Federer didn't face a top 10 player, but had an easier time than his last appearance at the event in 2006. He was pushed to three sets in four of his five matches that year.
Federer won Halle for the first time in 2003 - before going on to win his first Wimbledon title - and now has won 24 straight at the tournament, a streak dating back to that year.
In Warsaw, Poland, top seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko won the Warsaw Open with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over defending champion Tommy Robredo of Spain yesterday.
The world No. 4, who won the Polish event in its previous home of Sopot two years ago, lost his serve just once against the misfiring second seed to claim his third title of the year following victories at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami and Poertschach, Austria.
Davydenko also reached the final in Estoril, Portugal, but had to retire with an injury against Federer.
"Every game in this match was difficult for me. In the first set I broke him but then he broke me back. I have to say that the last point was lucky for me," Davydenko told reporters.
"All Spanish players like Nadal and Robredo play a pretty similar game - not too fast with more topspin - so I have more time to prepare, but today Robredo put up a good fight," the 27-year-old added.
Robredo was trying to win his first ATP title since October 2007.
In Barcelona, Spain, second-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia won the Torneo Barcelona yesterday with a comfortable 6-0, 6-2 victory over Spanish wildcard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the final.
The title was Kirilenko's second of the year, following her win at Estoril in April.
Kirilenko, playing the sixth WTA Tour singles final of her career, dominated at the start to close out the first set in 39 minutes.
Martinez Sanchez, a left-hander who was playing her first WTA final, was undone by Kirilenko's powerful baseline play and only produced resistance during Kirilenko's second service game.
Kirilenko, who will climb to 19th in the world rankings today, allowed her opponent a little respite in the second set. Martinez Sanchez held her serve for the first time to get to 3-1, and then broke Kirilenko in the following game.
However, the Russian right-hander immediately broke back and won the next two games to complete her victory.
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily June 16, 2008)