Rich Benvin

Michael Llodra of France won his third career title Sunday, beating Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the ABN Amro final. Llodra won the Ordina Open in 2004 and last month defeated Jarkko Nieminen to win in Adelaide, Australia. Llodra served 22 aces to become the first French winner of the tournament since Nicolas Escude won in 2001 and '02.

Roger Federer won the Dubai Open for the fourth time in five years on Saturday, beating Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-4, 6-3 in the final. Federer won his 41st straight match, tying Bjorn Borg for the fourth-longest streak in the Open era and leaving him five short of Guillermo Vilas' 1977 record. Ivan Lendl (44 in 1981-82) and John McEnroe (42 in 1984) also are in front of Federer.

Roger Federer took over the No. 1 ranking in men's tennis more than three years ago, and he shows no signs of letting it go. The 10-time Grand Slam champion reached a new milestone Monday when he broke Jimmy Connors' 30-year-old mark with his 161st week at the top of the ATP rankings. "This is definitely something that will stay for quite some time," the 25-year-old Swiss star said.

Wild-card Guillermo Canas of Argentina won for the first time since returning from a doping ban, upsetting top-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 7-6 (4), 6-2 in the Brazil Open on Sunday. Canas didn't lose any sets at Costa do Sauipe en route to his seventh career title. "I'm really happy to win this first title after my return," said Canas, who returned to the ATP circuit in January following a...

Venus Williams doesn't exactly know how her injured left wrist will respond in her return to competitive tennis. She just knows it's time. "I've been working fairly hard, but obviously with match play, the stamina gets tested," Williams said. "(Match play) is nothing like practice. It's definitely not the same.

Wild card Guillermo Canas of Argentina upset top-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 7-6 (4), 6-2 in the Brazil Open final Sunday to win his first tournament since returning from a doping ban. Canas didn't lose any sets at Costa do Sauipe en route to his seventh career title. "I'm really happy to win this first title after my return," said Canas, who returned to the ATP circuit in January following...

Third-seeded Nadia Petrova beat Vera Zvonareva of Russia 7-6 (2), 6-4 Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Diamond Games. The seventh-ranked Petrova won the Gaz de France Open on Sunday, but she was struck with apparent stomach pain early in Thursday's match. She still dominated Zvonoreva, ranked 21st in the world, in the tiebreaker.

Yaraslova Shvedova of Russia won her first WTA Tour title by stunning top-seeded defending champion Mara Santangelo of Italy 6-4, 6-4 at the Sony Ericsson International on Sunday. Shvedova, ranked 143rd in the world, again showed the outstanding form she displayed all week to overcome the 36th-ranked Santangelo.

Serena Williams won her first title in 11 months, defeating Patty Schnyder 7-5, 6-3 Sunday in the Bangalore Open final. Williams dominated the final with powerful serves and groundstrokes. Schnyder committed several unforced errors in trying to hit deep and keep Williams at the baseline. "It's good to be a champ here, it always feels good to win," said Williams, who won her 29th career title and...

Andy Roddick arrived at the SAP Open this week not knowing where his game was because he had played so sparingly this season. He left San Jose with this third title at this event and confidence that he can get on a roll following a 6-4, 7-5 victory in the tournament final Sunday. "You want to build on this and use it," Roddick said.

Second-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain fought off a comeback attempt by countryman Carlos Moya to win the Brazil Open 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-5 on Sunday. It took Almagro 2 1/2 hours to defeat the top-seeded Moya in this seaside resort in northeastern Brazil and win a top prize of $77,300. Almagro used a powerful backhand and several well-placed shots to beat the 31-year-old Moya, who appeared tired for...

Second-ranked Rafael Nadal withdrew from the Open 13 tournament on Monday because of a thigh injury that prevented him from playing in the Davis Cup last weekend. Nadal hurt his thigh in training before Spain's tie against Switzerland in Geneva, and said it will heal soon. "It's not a big problem, actually, but I know I need at least five or six days to recover, and I didn't want to take any...

Fourth-seeded Andy Murray beat Mario Ancic of Croatia 6-3, 6-4 Sunday to win the Open 13 for his fifth career title. "It was really tough," Murray told Sport Plus television. "A lot of close games. Both of us got a little bit nervous at the end of the first set." The 20-year-old Briton converted his second match point after Ancic netted a service return.

Justine Henin flashed her winning smile again, and her opponents should beware. Coming off a dispiriting quarterfinal loss to Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open, Henin won the title at the Diamond Games by beating Karin Knapp of Italy 6-3, 6-3 Sunday. "Played three, won two. I look at the bright side," Henin said of her victories here and in Sydney last month.

The start of a WTA Tour event was delayed a day because of a planned strike in the area aimed at shutting down public services and private businesses. The Ericsson International, already hurt by the withdrawal of Serena Williams, will begin Tuesday. Officials are drawing up a new schedule but hope the tournament will end Feb.