Novak Top Federer; Ginepri Wins in Newport

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
Roger Federer's bid for three straight tour titles came to an end Sunday in Gstaad when he was outlasted in five grueling sets by No. 3 seed Jiri Novak. It was the first title for Novak since he won the Gstaad title in 2001. "I must be one of the happiest men in the world right now," said Novak, who upped his record in career finals to 5-4. "I've won the title here twice and won my fifth ATP title. Roger played excellent but I was maybe a little better. Gstaad is something special for me, having won two singles and two doubles titles here. I'm enjoying this place. I think the altitude is the key for me playing well here." In the doubles final, (1)Paes/Rikl beat back Czechs (4)Cermak/Friedl in straight sets for their second title of the year after Dubai. Another player ending a title draught was No. 5-seeded Mariano Zabaleta in Bastad, who eased by No. 6 Nico Lapentti in straight sets. "I've been working very hard for this," said Zabaleta, who had won his lone title at Bogota in 1998. "It was five years ago that I won my first title, so it's been a long time. It's been one of my goals to win a title this year. I played a near perfect match -- I hardly missed anything." After the win Zabaleta hugged his coach in the stands, took a lap around the court, then took off his clothes and threw them into the stands. "I've had a lot of good matches this week. Beating Youzhny was an important win and I also beat Carlos Moya in the semifinals." Always good to remind the media who you beat. In the doubles final, Aspelin/Bertolini outlasted Arnold/Hood in three sets for their second title of the year in only their second tournament as a team. They have decided to play with each other for the rest of the year -- good decision. Newport on Sunday produced, surprise!, another first-time winner in No. 4 seed Robby Ginepri, who avoided the upset bug all week and outlasted No. 8 Jurgen Melzer in the final. "It's an amazing feeling to win today," the 20-year-old Ginepri said. "Fortunately, it went my way. Being up 5-1 (in the final set), I didn't think I was going to lose the match. The first title, trying to serve it out, there's not a lot of guys that wouldn't be nervous."

On court today in Stuttgart are Mathieu vs. (Q)Zib, Boutter vs. Behrend, (WC) Popp vs. (Q)Etlis, A.Martin vs. Delgado, (WC)Abel vs. Dupuis, (Q)Vanek vs. (WC) Greul, Saretta vs. Sargsian, Mello vs. Lopez, (Q)Furlan vs. Mutis, and (Q)Starace vs. (Q)Lopez. On court in Amersfoort are Massu vs. Arazi, Van Scheppingen vs. Labadze, Krajan vs. Squillari, Voinea vs. Hipfl, Portas vs. Horna, and C.Rochus vs. Vliegen.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
17-year-old Dinara "Baby Sis" Safina won her first title of the year at Palermo, with the No. 9 seed posting a convincing win over Mo. 4 Katerina Srebotnik, who she had lost to earlier in the season. "I'm very happy about this win, especially because now, I will make it into the main draw for the US Open," said the hard(er)-working member of the Safin family. "This was a difficult win for me because I feeling tired from the week, and it was really hot. It was good that it didn't go to three sets. Katarina played well, but this time, I knew how to play her. I knew what I needed to do to win against her." It is Safina's second WTA title after the coveted Sopot win in 2003. In the doubles final, wildcards Adriana Serra Zanetti and Emily Stellato of Italy thrilled the homecountry fans by beating Maria Jose Martinez and Arantxa Parra of Spain for their first title as a team.

NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Chile's Fernando Gonzalez was hit in the head by a plastic bottle of mineral water thrown by a Venezuelean fan after "calling for silence" during a controversial line call, according to ESPN, after Chile won the doubles in their loser group Davis Cup match. Gonzalez said he felt faint after being hit but went on to defeat Venezuela's Jose Antonio de Armas in a singles match Sunday. "Fortunately it was just a big fright. I felt dizzy at the start but nothing more," Gonzalez said. "It's sad that because of a couple of people such a nice crowd's image is tarnished." Don't mess with the Venezuelean crowds. No word on how badly hurt the ball was from hitting Gonzo's concrete head...There was another political doubles pairing last week, this time at the Bristol Challenger, where Rohan Bopanna, 24, an Indian Davis Cup team member, and Pakistan's top-ranked player, Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, 23, who have been friends for years, said f-you to the political turmoil between their countries. "We've known each other for a long time and the chance of a pair-up came as we both happened to be looking for partners," Qureshi told The Associated Press...This past weekend at the Mercedes Cup qualifying in Stuttgart, Mats Wilander, Henri Leconte and Miloslav Mecir were on hand, thrilling the qualifying-day crowds with some exhibition doubles and hitting with youngsters...Hey Pete, quit doing the crying interviews and get back to the practice court dammit.