Martin Klizan rallied past fifth-seeded Gael Monfils 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-1 to win the indoor World Tennis Tournament Sunday. The 26-year-old Slovak, who saved eight match points on his way to the final, won six of the seven break points he faced against Monfils in their two-hour match. Monfils had 12 aces but was broken five times. In the semifinals, Monfils beat Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 6-2 and Klizan downed Nicolas Mahut of France 6-7 (3), 7-6 (7), 6-2. Vinci claims St. Petersburg crown Roberta Vinci beat Belinda Bencic 6-3, 6-3 to win the inaugural St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy Sunday. It is the 10th career win for No. 16-ranked Vinci in a WTA singles final and snaps a 0-4 streak in finals dating back to 2013 and including last year's US Open, where she lost to fellow Italian Flavia Pennetta. Earlier, the top-seeded pair of Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza cruised to victory in the doubles final, beating Vera Dushevina and Barbora Krejcikova 6-4, 6-1 in less than an hour. Venus takes honors in Taiwan American multiple Grand Slam champion Venus Williams collected the 49th title of her illustrious career by defeating Japan's Misaki Doi 6-4, 6-2 in the final of the inaugural Taiwan Open Sunday. The 35-year-old Californian, who was beaten in the first rounds of the Auckland Classic and Australian Open last month, won the $500,000 hard court tournament in Kaohsiung without dropping a set. Williams's 49 career titles, including seven Grand Slam singles championships, leave her seventh on the all time list as she closes in on Monica Seles (53) and Lindsay Davenport (55). Martina Navratilova leads the way on 167 titles, while Williams' younger sister and current world No. 1 Serena has 69. In doubles, hometown favorites Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching won their first title of 2016, defeating Japanese duo Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato, 6-4, 6-3. Nadal crashes out to Thiem Defending champion Rafael Nadal suffered another setback Saturday when he squandered a match point before losing 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) to Austria's Dominic Thiem in the Argentina Open semifinals. Top seed Nadal, playing on his favorite clay surface, finally wilted in the 32-degree heat in Buenos Aires after two hours and 50 minutes on court against Thiem, the world No. 19, who goes on to face Nicolas Almagro in Sunday's final. "It was a tough match. I had a chance to win and missed it but Thiem played well," said Nadal, whose claycourt title total remains on 47. Almagro, who put out third seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals, went one better in the semifinals by defeating second seeded Spanish compatriot David Ferrer 6-4, 7-5. Ferrer had to complete his rain-delayed quarterfinal earlier Saturday, seeing off Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas, the eighth seed, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. Nishikori to face Fritz Three-time defending champion Kei Nishikori advanced to the ATP Memphis final Saturday by beating US fourth seed Sam Querrey, setting up a title showdown with history-making teen prodigy Taylor Fritz. Top seed Nishikori rallied to beat Querrey 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 for his 16th consecutive Memphis victory over four years while Fritz, an 18-year-old American wildcard in only his third tour-level event, ousted Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Fritz fired 17 aces in becoming the youngest American in an ATP final since a 17-year-old Michael Chang won at Wembley in 1989. And he shattered the US mark for fewest tour-level events needed to reach a final, the 10 tournaments taken by Jimmy Connors and Andy Roddick. — Agencies
