Haas Easily Handles Roddick for Memphis Crown; Henin, Venus Win Titles

WEEKEND WRAP:

Dubai Tennis Championships
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Finals:
(1) Justine Henin (BEL) d. (2) Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) 6-4, 7-5
(1) Black/Huber (ZIM/RSA) d. (WC) Kuznetsova/Molik (RUS/AUS) 7-6(6), 6-4

Henin improves to 16-0 career in the desert, surviving two three-set matches during the week for her fourth Dubai title, and Black/Huber win their fourth tournament title in a row.

Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup
Memphis, TN, USA

Finals:
(7) Venus Williams (USA) d. (1) Shahar Peer (ISR) 6-1, 6-1
(4) Pratt/Stewart (AUS) d. Gajdosova/Morigami (SVK/JPN) 7-5, 4-6, 10-5

Wrist injury? What wrist injury? Venus Williams breaks back into the Top 50 with her first title after an extended layoff, and says she is targeting the Top 16 by the French Open.

 
Copa Colsanitas Santander
Bogota, Colombia

Finals:
(6) Roberta Vinci (ITA) d. (1) Tathiana Garbin (ITA) 6-7(4), 6-4, 0-3 ret. (illness)
(1) Dominguez Lino/Suarez (ESP/ARG) d. (2) Pennetta/Vinci (ITA) 1-6, 6-3, 11-9

The 24-year-old Italian Vinci catches a break when, down 0-3 in the third, Garbin retires with illness.

ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament
Rotterdam, Netherlands

Finals:
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) d. (3) Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) 6-2, 6-4
(4)Damm/Paes (CZE/IND) d. Pavel/Waske (ROM/GER) 6-3, 6-7(5), 10-7

Youzhny rolls a tired Ljubicic for his third career title in his first final since 2004.

Regions Morgan Keegan Championships
Memphis, TN, USA

Finals:
(2) Tommy Haas (GER) d. (1) Andy Roddick 6-3, 6-2
Butorac/J.Murray (USA/GBR) d. (2) Knowle/Melzer (AUT) 7-5, 6-3

The German Haas collects his third Memphis title, treating Roddick like he did the rest of his opponents during the week, picking apart the American with his all-court game and not facing a break point in five matches. In the doubles final the American/Brit pair of Butorac/J.Murray collected their third straight title including Challengers and Tour events.
 
Copa Telmex
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Finals:
Juan Monaco (ARG) d. Alessio di Mauro (ITA) 6-1, 6-2
(4) Garcia/Prieto (ARG) d. Montanes/Ramirez Hidalgo (ESP) 6-4, 6-2

The 22-year-old Argentine Monaco wins his first career title beating a player appearing in his first ATP final.

THIS WEEK ON TOUR:

The Dubai Tennis Championships
Dubai, UAE

World No. 1 and 2 Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal head the money-laden field that also includes Memphis winner Tommy Haas, and Nikolay Davydenko who opens against qualifier Younes El Aynaoui. Nadal opens against unseeded Marcos Baghdatis, and wildcard Radek Stepanek faces Haas.

Tennis Channel Open
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

James Blake, Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin and Tim Henman add star power to the second-year tour event that experiments with the ill-received round robin format.

Abierto Mexicano Telcel Presentado por HSBC
Acapulco, Mexico

The parade of washed-up French Open winners including Juan Carlos Ferrero, Gaston Gaudio, and Carlos Moya continue the South American claycourt swing among few other recognizable names.

Qatar Total Open
Doha, Qatar

Justine Henin, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Martina Hingis and Jelena Jankovic are in the title running at Doha, where Alicia Molik, Sania Mirza and Maria Kirilenko hope to emerge as unseeded spoilers.

Abierto Mexicano Telcel Presentado por HSBC
Acapulco, Mexico

Marion Bartoli and Tathiana Garbin are the best offerings of the Tier III event in Acapulco where the women play beside the men, and where the prize money discrepancy has yet to be addressed, with the male winner making more than five times that of the women's.

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Wimbledon earlier in the week announced it will for the first time, in 2007, offer equal prize money to the men and women...Andy Roddick on his short-term plans: "I'm going to take a couple of days off in Austin, really get some good time in practice with Jimmy [Connors] in Indian Wells. It's been a pretty hectic three weeks, or even first two months of the year. I've seen my house a couple of times. Get home, kind of recharge the batteries and go into Palm Springs with a really good week of training under my belt."...Tommy Haas blogging for the ATP website: "I want to say hi to Glenn Weiner through the blog and wish him all the best for what may be the start of a promising coaching career. He hasn't decided to stop playing but he's had some injury problems with his left wrist since the US Open and the last two or three weeks he's started teaching a bit at the Bollettieri Academy and he has the chance to travel with one of the young rising players, Philip Bester, of Canada. He left a message on my phone Friday saying that he's arrived in Texas -- there is a Future(s) [tournament] there somewhere -- and all the players were asking him how he was doing and if he was playing."...Swede Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson has gone under the knife again for his shoulder, expected to be out another three months...On Feb. 26, 10-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer spent his 161st straight week at No. 1, breaking the record set by Jimmy Connors of 160 straight weeks from July 1974 to August 1977. "It is a nice record to have," Federer said. "It is very hard to beat, not something that you can beat overnight. It is a long, hard work in progress."...Kim Clijsters says she will marry fiancee and basketball player Brian Lynch on July 14th after Wimbledon...Tommy Haas says what the hell, the women are getting paid the same as the men at Wimbledon? "I don't think it's really fair. I think the depth of men's tennis is much tougher than the women's, plus we play best of five sets. You might think it's not as brutal but you have to be in unbelievable shape on grass, even if the ball stays low and the points are shorter."...Marat Safin on Andy Roddick's improvement under coach Jimmy Connors: "At first he couldn't volley, he was having problems with his backhand, even the cross court. Now you have to move him around to do anything with his backhand. Jimmy did a great job, he is putting on the pressure, he's coming to the net -- Jimmy is doing a great job."...Anna Kournikova is now a spokesmodel for K-Swiss, switching over from adidas. Kournikova remains retired from tour play but participates in World TeamTennis...Anders Jarryd beat Henri Leconte in the Belfast senior tour final. Wayne Ferreira beat John McEnroe for the third place playoff...John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova will be lead commentators for The Tennis Channel's coverage of the French Open...Gustavo Kuerten has received wildcards for Las Vegas (round robin main draw elimination) and Indian Wells.