Gilles Simon defeated Viktor Troicki 7-5, 7-6(4) in the final of the Medibank International Sydney to win his eight ATP World Tour.

“It's always good to win the tournament,” said Simon. “I mean, you never know if you're going to win more after, so I enjoy it every time. It's nice also for me to win here, to win some different tournaments. It's a tournament I like to play.”

“We were playing very nice tennis from the baseline, and it was a real fight,” reflected Simon. “I'm just happy to win it, because Viktor is playing better and better week after week. That's very good for me to be feeling now, because I know that he's playing good and I know that I'm able to defeat him even when he's playing good. So it's good for my confidence.”

Troicki was trying to win his second ATP World Tour title from his fourth final; he won his maiden crown in Moscow (d. Baghdatis) last year.

“Right now I feel bit disappointed, but definitely it was a good week,” admitted Troicki. “Also a good match tonight. I feel I had a lot of chances that I didn't use, and obviously Gilles doesn't suit my game. For the past five matches already I haven't been able to figure out how to win a set.

“I hope I continue to play good in Melbourne. I play my first round already on Monday. I hope I get ready for that match.”

In the doubles final, Lukas Dlouhy and Paul Hanley beat Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan 6-7(6), 6-3, 10-5 and won second title in two weeks. They won brisbane International the week before.

"It's amazing. Something I think obviously we were hoping to do. But this is a little bit of a shock, to be honest," admitted Hanley. "Hopefully we can continue down in Melbourne. We're playing really well, and I'm really excited.

“I'm from Brisbane, so to win in Brisbane and now to win back-to-back in Sydney, everyone loves winning their home title. Doing two in a row, I'm still in a little bit of shock, to be honest."
Dlouhy added, "It's exciting because we never lost a match. We are going to play in a Grand Slam with eight matches in our pockets. We just have to focus for the matches like we did these two weeks. We have to keep it going like easy in the head and not thinking so much about what we have done. We have to look forward to what we have to do."

 
David Ferrer defeated David Nalbandian 6-3, 6-2 in the Auckland final to win his 10th ATP World Tour title.

“It’s very special,” declared Ferrer. “When I won here [in 2007] it was my first hard court title and to win it for a second time four years later is special because it’s more difficult now with the pressure and expectation. I like a lot to play the second week of the season here; I like the tournament a lot, the people support me a lot.

“Of course I am with confidence after winning a tournament; the next tournament I will go in with confidence in my game and my mentality,” added Ferrer.

“I think David did not have a good day,” admitted Ferrer. “He played a little bit badly in the second set. Maybe it was the key in the first set at 3-3 when I went a break up and won the set. He lost concentration. I thought I played very consistently and I did my job.”

Nalbandian added, “He played better than me. I had some chances in the beginning of the first set, but couldn’t take them. Sometimes I missed easy shots and I tried risks that didn’t work.

“I think it was a very good week,” reflected Nalbandian. “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes you play good and lose, sometimes you play bad and win. Sport is like that. Today I lost. I will try to play better every day.”

In the doubles final, Marcel Granollers and Tommy Robredo beat Johan Brunstrom and Stephen Huss 6-4, 7-6(6) to win their second ATP World Tour team title.

 
Jarmila Groth defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands 64 63 to win Hobart, her second WTA title.

"It's my second title and it's a home title, so is it my highest point? Probably," Groth said. "There were a couple of times the wind came down so we could play proper tennis, but most of the time it was just try to run and fight as much as possible. Anyway, hopefully it's not the last title and I hope I keep improving."

Mattek-Sands said: "I think I served pretty well today. It was up and down but the times I did, I got some aces in. I'm happy with that. I'm really excited. This is the best beginning to a season I've had in a long time.

"I'm healthy, and that's the most important thing."

In the doubles final, Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani beat Kateryna Bondarenko and Liga Dekmeijere 63 75 to win their third title together, having won International clay court titles in Marbella and Barcelona last year.

 
Li Na defeated Kim Clijsters 76(3) 63 in the Medibank International Sydney and became the first Chinese ever to win a Premier title.

"I was 5-0 down and saw the time, it was only 15 minutes. I thought, 'Yeah, the fans, they pay a lot of money and the match will be over in half an hour,'" Li joked in her press conference. "One or two points changed it, and it turned around like that. When we got to the tie-break, I thought it was my chance."

"I've played here many years. Every time I saw the name of the champion and I would think, 'Oh, when will my name be there?'" Li said. "Also, when you walk to center court, you can see many pictures of champions over there. So after today I talked to me team, saying we will come next year and see my picture.

"But now Sydney is over and I have to focus on Melbourne. After these two hours, I just have to forget everything and start the next day."

Clijsters was trying to win her third Sydney title and 41st career title, and to move back to No.2 in the world with a win on Friday.

"I think I just softened the quality of my strokes. I wasn't hitting as deep or aggressively as before, and she took over very quickly," Clijsters said of the first set. "I also found it very hard today to change directions once I was going crosscourt with her backhand. Usually that's something I do very well against her. I wasn't serving great either. You try to fight, but then it becomes frustrating when you know you're not playing your best when you're trying to."

In the doubles final, Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova beat Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik 46 64 107 to win their sixth WTA doubles title as a team.



(via ATP World Tour, WTA World Tour, photo/AP Photo, Getty Images via Daylife)

Weekend Winners: Gilles Simon, David Ferrer, Jarmila Groth and Li Na