Ivo Karlovic claims title in Stockholm

At recent ATP and WTA tournaments around the world, HEAD pros faced, and triumphed, against tough competition.

HEAD player Ivo Karlovic won his third ATP title of the season with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Thomas Johansson in 83 minutes at the If Stockholm Open.

The 6’10 Croatian, who plays with the Flexpoint Instinct, hit 27 aces in the final, for a tournament tally of 106 in four completed matches. Bjorn Borg, who captured the Stockholm title in 1980, presented Karlovic with the trophy.

"I was playing really well. I was serving well and returning well when I needed it. I'm happy“, Karlovic said. "It's good to know I have it in a critical moment."

In the doubles competition, HEAD player Arnaud Clement of France, went to the final along with his partner Michele Llodra. The duo ran over No. 1 seeded pair Paul Hanley / Kevin Ullyett 6-3, 6-3 in the quarter semifinal match. Clement, who plays with the Flexpoint Prestige MP, and Llodra lost in the final match to No. 2 seed team Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi.

Unseeded HEAD player Stanislas Wawrinka reached the final match of the BA-CA Tennis Trophy in Vienna after defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-1 in the semifinal match. Wawrinka, who plays with the Flexpoint Prestige MP, finished the match strong with 11 aces.

"It wasn't easy but I played very strong from the baseline. This year has been very special. I was injured and now I am in my second final of the year,” Wawrinka said after his win against Ferrero. “It will be very difficult against Novak but I think I have a good chance if I can play strong tomorrow."

HEAD player Marat Safin and partner Dmitry Tursunov captured their first career ATP team title, after defeating Czech Tomas Cibulec and Lovro Zovko of Croatia 6-4, 6-2 in the Kremlin Cup final.

The pair is the first all-Russian duo to win the Moscow crown since Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev in 2004. Safin, who was appearing in his first ATP doubles final since Halle in June 2005, clinched his first team crown since Gstaad in 2001. Safin plays with the Flexpoint Prestige Mid.

"It feels great to win our first title together here in Moscow in front of our home crowd", Safin said.

In the women’s tournament, HEAD player Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia competed in the semi final match against Serena Williams. The Russian, who plays with the MicroGel Extreme, lost to Williams 7-6 (7-2), 6-1.

HEAD teen player and 32nd ranked Victoria Azarenka beat Maria Sharapova 7-6 (9), 6-2 in the second round of the tournament in Moscow. The 18-year-old Belarusian, who plays with the MicroGel Extreme Pro, saved three set points in the tiebreaker before taking the set. Azarenka then broke the two-time Grand Slam champion twice in the second set for her first win over the fourth-ranked player. Azarenka also played the women’s final in the doubles competition with partner against No. 1 seed Cara Black and Liezel Huber. They were finally defeated 6-4 1-6 7-10.