Novak Outlasts Nalbandian in Five in ATP Basel Final

Unseeded Jiri Novak won his second title of the year Sunday at the ATP stop in Basel, outlasting No. 4 seed David Nalbandian 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.

Novak captured his first title of the year earlier in October at the Tokyo Outdoor in Japan.

"I'm one of the happiest men in the world right now," Novak said. "It was hard work during the whole week. Finally I won 6-2 in the fifth set. It's very nice when the final goes five sets."

Nalbandian, cementing his reputation as a big-match choker, also complained of physical problems during the final.

"I think it was very tough in the middle and in the end of the second set," Nalbandian said. "I started to have problems again and it was really difficult to run, serve, move. I feel like my left leg is blocked so I couldn't move at all."

In the doubles final, Bob and Mike Bryan won their sixth title of the year, defeating Lucas Arnold and Mariano Hood 7-6(9), 6-2.

"It feels good to come back here," Bob said. "We're starting to have a good indoor season. The crowd was great today, we played at 11:30 in the morning and the place was 90 percent full. That's good for doubles. We'd love to do well in Paris, we are on the heels of (Mark) Knowles and (Daniel) Nestor, actually we?re pretty far back. We want to
finish No. 1, I know it's a long shot but we hope to do well in Paris."