Sun Jul 13 09:03:20 2008

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Hanescu earns first singles crown

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Gstaad, Switzerland (Sports Network) - Victor Hanescu of Romania captured his first ATP singles crown with a straight-set victory over Russia's Igor Andreev in Sunday's Swiss Open final.

Hanescu posted a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the seventh-seeded Andreev, who first had to complete a semifinal match on Sunday before taking part in the final.

Currently ranked 80th in the world, Hanescu was playing in just his second career singles final. He lost to Gilles Simon last September at his hometown tournament in Bucharest.

Hanescu had won just five matches in 14 tournaments this year, never going beyond the second round, before doubling his win total this week.

Andreev, who hasn't won a tournament since capturing each of his three ATP titles in 2005, finished off Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the semifinals with a 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 7-6 (7-5) triumph. The two had split a pair of sets on Saturday before rain halted play.

In the final, Hanescu broke serve once in each set and didn't face a break point against his serve. He became the first Romanian to win the Gstaad title since Ilie Nastase in 1973.

Hanescu, who took home the first prize of $103,000, improved to 2-1 lifetime against Andreev.