Malisse overpower Koubek to win Chennai Open

Chennai, Jan 7 (UNI) In the end it turned out to be a tame affair as third seeded Xavier Malisse of Belgium overpowered unseeded Stephan Koubek of Austria 6-1 6-3 to annexe the men's singles title in the Chennai Open ATP Tennis Tournament here this evening.

Much was expected from the 80th ranked Belgium after his surprise win over crowd favourite and former champion Carlos Moya of Spain yesterday.

But the 30-year-old Koubek failed to break the Malisse grip losing to him for the fourth successive time, the first in four years, after his five set loss to the Belgian in the 2003 French Open.

Malisse, who stunned world number two and top seed Rafael Nadal of Spain in the semi-finals last night, played solid tennis from the baseline and reeled off winners catching his unfancied rival off-guard time and again to win his second ATP title of his career in less than an hour.

While Malisse carried home the winner's cheque of 65,850 US dollar, Koubek, who wilted under pressure right from the beginning, had to be content with the runner-up prize money of 35,500 USD.

This is one of the shortest finals in the 12-year-history of the event after Paradorn Srichaphan defeated Karol Kucera 6-3 6-1.

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