Corretja climbs the heights to leave Ferrero shattered

Alex Corretja of Spain defeated countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets to win the Generali Open in Kitzbühel yesterday.

Corretja, who was also victorious in the Austrian Tyrol two years ago, beat the second seed Ferrero 6-4, 6-1, 6-3.

After succeeding at the Swiss Open less than two weeks ago, Corretja again showed brilliant form, particularly in the second and third sets when he consistently outplayed Ferrero.

Fresh from the earlier round win over his Spanish rival, the defending champion and the top-seed Albert Costa, Corretja appeared in irrepressible mood. In contrast 43 unforced errors were evidence of Ferrero's sluggish form.

"I think I played one of my best tennis tournaments this year. I beat three of the top players on clay. Now I just feel incredibly happy," Corretja said after the three-set triumph. In his third Kitzbühel final, the 28-year-old from Barcelona's win was also his 17th title on the ATP tour.

The defending champion Andre Agassi coasted past Max Mirnyi 6-4 6-2 on Saturday to set up an all-American final at the Mercedes-Benz Cup in Los Angeles.

The second-seeded Agassi needed just 62 minutes to get past the eighth seed from Belarus and now meets Jan-Michael Gambill, who defeated the fourth-seed and fellow American Andy Roddick 7-5, 6-3.

"Against a guy like Max, you have to get off to a lead," said Agassi, who has won 33 of 38 matches this season.

"His game is built on putting a lot of pressure by holding his serve and taking chances.

"Once I got up the break, it allowed me to free up a lot of shots and made him a little tentative on his. It felt really good tonight."

The defending champion Kim Clijsters completed a stirring comeback against Lindsay Davenport on Saturday for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 semi-final victory in the Bank of the West Classic in Palo Alto.

"I just kept going for my shots," said Clijsters, who beat Davenport in the final here last year. "I was so focused I didn't even realise what the score was."

The fourth-seeded Belgian meets Venus Williams in the final after the top seed unsurprisingly overwhelmed Lisa Raymond 6-3, 6-0 in the first semi-final.