Associated Press

Tokyo, February 6:

Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova claimed the Pan Pacific Open final by defeating top ranked Lindsay Davenport in a tiebreaker.

Second-seeded Sharapova captured her first Pan Pacific title and snapped Davenport’s four-tournament winning streak here after a hard fought 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 win.

Top-seeded Davenport took a medical time out after the first set and came back to take the momentum despite a sore left thigh. She produced 13 aces but couldn’t keep up with the 17-year-old Sharapova when it mattered most.

Leading 6-5 in the tiebreaker, Sharapova won when Davenport couldn’t catch up to her forehand return down the line.

Sharapova, who lost in the semi-finals of the Australian Open to Williams, also served well in Sunday’s final and had nine aces.

Davenport was gunning for her fifth Pan Pacific title, which would have made her the most successful player in the 22-year history of the event. Martina Hingis has also won here four times.

BellSouth Open:

VINA DEL MAR: Top-seeded Gaston Gaudio of Argentina beat David Ferrer of Spain 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 on Saturday to advance to the final of the $380,000 BellSouth Open.

Gaudio will face Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, who defeated third-seeded Italian Filippo Volandri 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.

In the doubles final, Ferrer and countryman Santiago Ventura beat Gaston Etlis and Martin Rodriguez, of Argentina, 6-3, 6-4.

Delray Beach:

DELRAY BEACH: Second-seeded Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic beat Wesley Moodie of South Africa 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the final of the Millennium Tennis Championships.

Novak will be vying for his eighth career title against the winner of the other semi-final, between top-seeded Vince Spadea of the US and third-seeded Xavier Malisse of Belgium.

The turning point of the match came with Moodie serving in the eighth game of the first set. Novak claimed the first set in the next game when Moodie made another error.

Lombardia Indoors:

MILAN: Fifth-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden rallied to beat eighth-seeded Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-7,

6-3, 6-4 to set up a final against Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic at the indoor Internazionali di Lombardia.

The fourth-seeded Stepanek neat second-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-4, 6-2 in an earlier semis.

Stepanek broke Ljubicic in the opening game and then twice in the second set to reach the second final of his career. Soderling survived a set point before losing the first set tie-breaker.

Volvo Open

PATTAYA: Former Wimbledon cha-mpion Conchita Martinez claimed her first title in more than four years after grinding out a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Anna Lena Groenefeld of Germany to win the WTA Volvo Women’s Open.

The Pattaya event marked the return to tennis of former top-ranked Martina Hingis, who lost to Germany’s Marlene Weingartner 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the first round.