ARTICLE - Canas Topples Ferrero in Brasil Open Final
Argentine wild card Guillermo Canas toppled former World No. 1 and top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6(4), 6-2 Sunday to win the Brasil Open in Costa do Sauipe - his first ATP title since 2004.Canas was playing in his first ATP final since Oct. 17, 2004 in Vienna where he lost to Feliciano Lopez in five sets. His last ATP title came in Shanghai on Oct. 3, 2004 when he defeated Lars Burgsmuller of Germany.
The 29-year-old Argentine improved his final’s record to 7-7 (4-4 on clay). His last ATP title on clay came in Umag on July 25, 2004 (d. Volandri).
Canas is the first Argentine and the oldest winner on the ATP circuit this season.
Canas, who is No. 107 in the ATP Rankings, is also the lowest-ranked player to win an ATP title this season. (Ivo Karlovic, ranked No. 103, is appearing in the San Jose final later on Sunday).
He is the second player this year to win an ATP event as a wild card (Marcos Baghdatis in Zagreb). He is the fourth player of the season to win a tournament without losing a set (Roger Federer at the Australian Open; Luis Horna in Vina del Mar and Gilles Simon in Marseille).
Ferrero was trying to capture his first title since winning ATP Masters Series Madrid on Oct. 19, 2003 (d. Massu). The 27-year-old Spaniard has now reached his past five ATP finals, including ATP Masters Series Cincinnati last August (l. to Roddick), without going on to claim the title.
Ferrero was appearing in his 26th career final (11-15) and his 16th on clay (8-7). His last title on clay came at Roland Garros on June 8, 2003 (d. Verkerk).
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Canas: "I'm not sure how far can I go (in the rankings). What I can say is that I'm very happy to play in Sauipe and especially to win my first ATP title since my return to the circuit.
"The match was really close with both of us playing very well. I played better the key points of the match to win this final. I want to rest as much as possible to be able to win the Buenos Aires title in my home country."
"Not much has changed for the period I couldn't play. Some guys went up in the rankings and some others went down. I feel like I can face any player in the tour. My first goal for 2007 is reach the Top 20."
Ferrero: "Canas is a very good player. He defends incredibly well and also has a good serve. The first set was very important because we both played two tough matches yesterday."
"Even though I lost the first set I kept fighting and had a few chances to get back in the set but he just played better than me. I leave Sauipe with a record of 4 wins and 1 loss, so I'm happy about that."
