Stakhovsky on target for Wimbledon with 's-Hertogenbosch title

HEAD's Sergiy Stakhovsky tuned up for Wimbledon in the best way possible, winning his third career title with a 56-minute, 6-3, 6-0 victory over Serb Janko Tipsarevic on grass in the Netherlands at the UNICEF Open.

The racket rebel, used his YouTek Prestige MP to best advantage to earn the runaway victory putting him in position for a possible breakthrough at the All England club. The victory was the second in which Stakhovsky has claimed a trophy over Tipsarevic after beating his rival in the Zagreb final in 2008.

"I played really well today," said Stakhovsky, who donated the racquet he used to UNICEF. "By the score, I believe this would be the easiest match of the week, but it definitely wasn’t as there was a lot of tension.

"I can't really say I had easy matches this week. More or less all of them were close in some way. I think I was a bit better and a little more consistent. I only slept for four hours before my other two finals. Today, I was nervous but I had slept okay." The number 71 set the pace for HEAD players prior to the start of the Grand Slam.

In the southern English coastal resort of Eastbourne, HEAD's Victoria Azarenka (YouTek Extreme Pro) reached her second final of the season, but came up short to Russian Ekaterina Makarova 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. Azarenka staged a first-set fightback from 2-5 to 5-5 against the No. 100, and saved two match points at the end of the afternoon.

In men's play, HEAD player Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, the fifth seed, endured a rain interruption in his final against Michael Llodra, which the Frenchman won 7-5, 6-2. The Spaniard, playing with a YouTek Prestige MP, saved three match points in heavy drizzle at the end.