Tennis - Williams wins fourth clay title of season in Bastad

It made it 28 clay court wins in a row for Serena with five of her seven 2013 titles coming on the surface - four on red clay and one on green clay (Charleston).

Larsson got off to a good start in her home tournament, breaking in the opening game, and was 3-1 in front early but the eight seeded Swede only went on to win two more games as Serena took control.

It was the 53rd WTA title of Williams' career and puts her level with Monica Seles for ninth on the all-time list in the Open era.

Meanwhile in Bad Gastein, Austria, Yvonne Meusburger delighted the home fans by winning the first title of her career against Andrea Hlavackova of Czech Republic 7-5 6-2 .

Meusburger is ranked only 86th in the world but enjoyed a fantastic tournament – not dropping a single set all week.

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Tennis - WTA rankings

points

1. (1) Serena Williams (United States) 11705

2. (2) Maria Sharapova (Russia) 9235

3. (3) Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) 8825

4. (4) Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) 5965

5. (5) Li Na (China) 5555

6. (6) Sara Errani (Italy) 5100

7. (8) Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) 4435

8. (7) Marion Bartoli (France) 4365

9. (9) Angelique Kerber (Germany) 3970

10. (10) Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) 3660

11. (11) Roberta Vinci (Italy) 3220

12. (12) Maria Kirilenko (Russia) 2976

13. (13) Samantha Stosur (Australia) 2965

14. (15) Kirsten Flipkens (Belgium) 2886

15. (16) Sloane Stephens (United States) 2870

16. (14) Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) 2865

17. (17) Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) 2740

18. (18) Sabine Lisicki (Germany) 2650

19. (20) Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) 2430

20. (19) Nadia Petrova (Russia) 2306

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Tennis - Youzhny overcomes Haase in Gstaad, Robredo triumphs in Croatia

Youzhny, 31, overcame Dutchman Haase in an hour and nine minutes to become the first Swiss Open champion from Russia since Yevgeny Kafelnikov in 1995.

He is also the 12th over-30 to win an ATP title this year, as men’s tennis increasingly starts to favour the more experienced player.

“I’m very happy,” the world number 33 said afterwards. “When you win a tournament it doesn’t matter how you play or who you beat.

“My last title was at the start of last year in Zagreb, so it’s been quite long. I’m trying everything to play more consistently at a high level.”

One break per set was enough for Youzhny, who converted his third match point against a Haase who has never beaten the Russian in five attempts

Haase said he was happy to come second after suffering knee problems in recent weeks.

“I didn’t feel well last weekends and had some problems with my knee, which was pretty swollen,” the world number 57 said.

“And now I’m here as a runner-up and that’s great. (Youzhny) is a great player and I never beat him.”

Spain's fifth seed Robredo easily beat Italy's third seed Fognini 6-0 6-3 in Croatia.

The result ended a 13-match winning streak for world number 19 Fognini, who had won the last two tournaments he played in, at Hamburg and Stuttgart.

Robredo extends his career record over Fognini to 4-1, having beaten his second-seeded compatriot Andreas Seppi in the semis.

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Tennis - Youzhny to face Haase in Gstaad final

Youzhny, 31, is bidding to become the first Russian champion at the Swiss Open after beating Romania’s Victor Hanescu 6-3 6-3.

Dutchman Haase overcame Feliciano Lopez of Spain 4-6 6-1 6-4 in an hour and 48 minutes.

"I served well today and I was fighting a lot," said Haase.

"I was broken early in the first set and that’s the worst thing that can happen to you against Feliciano.

“But I managed to fight back and I’m very happy to be in the final."

Youzhny has beaten Haase in all four of their previous encounters.

"It will be a difficult match," said Haase. "His game doesn't suit me. He's a great player with a lot of experience."

In Croatia, Fognini won 6-0 3-6 7-6(3) against France’s Gael Monfils, who came from 5-0 down in the decider and saved two match points himself before going out on a tie-break.

Fognini will play Spain’s Tommy Robredo in the Umag final after he triumphed over Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3 2-6 6-4.

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