Serra Secures Adelaide Win over X-Man

 Frenchman Florent Serra completed a highly successful week by claiming the Next Generation Adelaide International with a straights set win over in-form Xavier Malisse. Serra coped well with the 100-degree heat (38C) to claim his second career ATP title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

Serra advanced to the final on the back of three consecutive upsets, defeating No. 3 seed Tommy Robredo in the second round, No. 7 seed Jarkko Nieminen in the quarterfinals and No. 2 seed Dominik Hrbtay in the semifinals.

Serra played steady tennis against a struggling Malisse, who was hampered on the hot court by a blister on his right foot.

Serra served consistently throughout the match, firing seven aces and recording an overall first serve percentage of 65.

"I'm very happy to win this week," Serra said. "I felt good going into the match but I knew it would be a very difficult match against Xavier because he won his last two matches very easily."

"I won my first ATP tournament in Bucharest at the end of the season and I thought I did it one time so I was more relaxed. I tried to stay concentrated on my game, to hit the ball strongly and play my game and I felt very good. I'm very happy to win against players like Hrbaty and Robredo but now I have to improve and I hope it will continue."

"My serve helped me a lot today and especially in the first game where I was love-40 down and Xavier served well in his first games."

Malisse, despite his blister problems, credited Serra for the win. "There are no excuses," said the Belgian, who is now 1-7 in ATP finals. "He played well and he served good on the big points. He just played too strong and when you can't move at the top level it's tough to beat these guys because they are too good." (ATP)