Nieminen wins Sydney International

Updated January 15, 2012 13:00:04

It was the men's final nobody saw coming which very nearly became the one with no winner.

The Sydney International final, between qualifier Jarkko Nieminen and the unseeded Julien Benneteau, had for the first time been delayed by a day due to persistent rain.

But just as it looked like mother nature herself was ready to declare the result a draw - the clouds parted and Jarkko Nieminen took his chance to claim the title.

The Finn kept his 100 per cent record over Frenchman Benneteau to become the first qualifier since Hyung-Taik Lee in 2003 to win the event, 6-2, 7-5.

Having waited so long to get on court, Benneteau wasted no time once the weather cleared, breaking Nieminen's first service game - before the Finn took over to claim the first in just 28 minutes on his way to the comfortable victory.

Nieminen did not concede another service game in the match.

In front of nearly-empty stands - with the bulk of ticket holders presumably taking up the offer of trading their tickets in for the 2013 men's final rather than watching the two journeymen slug it out - Nieminen put in a polished performance to claim just his second career title.

It was largely unfamiliar territory for the left-hander, who has lost 10 of his previous 11 finals matches but, once he clicked into gear, it was a smooth ride.

Benneteau remains winless in six ATP finals.

With the victory, Nieminen joins the likes of all-time greats Roger Federer and Pete Sampras and four-time champion Lleyton Hewitt on the Sydney honour roll.

It makes for a particularly busy start to the week for the 30-year-old, who also has the doubles final on Sunday before flying down to Melbourne for his Australian Open first-round match against David Nalbandian on Monday night.

Benneteau gets a little more time to recover; he will not face Karol Beck until Tuesday.

AAP

Tags: tennis, sport, sydney-2000, nsw, australia

First posted January 15, 2012 12:25:34

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Nieminen to play Benneteau in Sydney final

Updated January 13, 2012 19:50:57

Journeymen Jarkko Nieminen and Julien Benneteau earned themselves a rare ATP title shot at the Sydney International after beating higher ranked semi-final opponents on Friday.

Finland's Nieminen, 30, needed a marathon 26-point tie-breaker before prevailing over Uzbekistan's 67th-ranked Denis Istomin 7-6 (14-12), 6-3 in an hour and 44 minutes to reach his 12th career ATP final on Saturday.

French world number 49 Benneteau required six match points and had to win through a see-sawing 14-minute final game before seeing off Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 6-4 in almost two hours.

Left-hander Nieminen, ranked 77, has only won one title - in Auckland six years ago - and was a beaten Sydney finalist in 2009 against David Nalbandian.

He is bidding to become the first qualifier to win the tournament since South Korea's Lee Hyung-Taik claimed the title nine years ago.

"I really enjoyed that moment being in the finals again now a second time here," Nieminen said.

"It's just great that I start the year like this. I struggled in the beginning of the last year, and this is a real great confidence boost for me."

Benneteau, 30, a semi-finalist here two years ago, will be playing in his sixth final and has yet to win a title.

The Frenchman, who improved his record against Baghdatis to 4-2, has yet to drop a set this week after wins over Andreas Seppi, fourth seed Feliciano Lopez and Alex Bogomolov Jr.

"I've never beat him (Nieminen) on the tour. Each time it was very tough matches, very tight, three sets, long matches," Benneteau said.

"He's a good player. He has some confidence because he's won a lot matches this week. But also he can be a little bit tired.

"Now it depends on me, how I can manage to find a way to win the first title of my career."

Former Sydney winner Baghdatis was disappointed with his performance a few days ahead of the Australian Open, where he was a beaten finalist against Roger Federer six years ago.

"I was a bit tight again. I wasn't so aggressive. I tried but my shots were not heavy enough," 43rd-ranked Baghdatis said.

"He played very smart, very aggressive, and was serving very well. I had my chances. I didn't take them, he did. Basically, that's it."

AFP

Tags: sport, tennis, sydney-2000, nsw, australia

First posted January 13, 2012 19:36:16

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