Venus Williams retained her Dubai Championships crown by defeating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-3, 7-5 in Saturday's final. It was the third-seeded American's 42nd singles title, putting her one ahead of Justine Henin at the top of the list of active players. The high-quality match was competitive from start to finish, with just one break deciding the first set and three match points needed in the second. Fourth seed Azarenka, who was seeking her fourth career title, rallied well with Venus but could not match her serving power or the strength of her groundstrokes. Benneteau-Llodra final In France, eighth seed Julien Benneteau will meet fellow Frenchman Michael Llodra in the final of the Marseille Open. Benneteau ousted compatriot and title holder Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6, 5-7, 7-6 Saturday and last year's runner-up Llodra, who is unseeded, overcame German Mischa Zverev 6-1, 7-6. Tsonga and Benneteau, who has yet to win an ATP title, battled for almost three hours before the world No. 39 finally triumphed. Querrey stuns Roddick Top-seeded Andy Roddick was eliminated from the Regions Morgan Keegan Championship Friday, beaten by fellow American Sam Querrey 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 in their quarterfinal. Querrey, who lost to Roddick last week in San Jose, had 15 winners and only three unforced errors in the final set.Also in the quarters, unseeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia upset No. 5 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), and No. 6 John Isner of the US beat Croatian Ivo Karlovic, 6-1, 7-6 (7). Philipp Petzchner of Germany also made it through, after a see-sawing 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 win over Slovakia's Lukas Lacko. In the women's draw – the Cellular South Cup – top-seeded Maria Sharapova beat No. 5 Petra Kvitova 6-4, 6-3 to reach the final, where she will take on Swedish qualifier Sofia Arvidsson, who downed Britain's Anne Keothavong 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Kerber, Duque Marino in final In Bogota, Angelique Kerber knocked out top-seeded Gisela Dulko to appear in her first WTA Tour final with local hope Mariana Duque Marino at the Copa Colsanitas Saturday. Duque Marino, who like Kerber was playing in her first tour semifinals, upset eighth-seeded Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain 6-4, 7-5. Fifth-seeded Kerber, of Germany, took advantage of poor serving by Dulko to break the tournament favorite five times. Dulko had reached the Bogota final last year. Duque Marino, ranked 143, hadn't won a match on the main WTA Tour in nine months until this week, when she surpassed her previous best tour result - the Bogota quarterfinals two years ago - to reach her hometown final. Copa Telmex wiped out In Argentina, second-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero won his eighth straight match when he beat Spanish countryman Santiago Ventura 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the only quarterfinal at the Copa Telmex before rain washed out play Friday. Spain's Albert Montanes reached the semifinals after his opponent David Nalbandian pulled out of the tournament Thursday with a right-leg injury.
