Tennis: Ancic loses to solid performer Nieminem

Perhaps he was still suffering a Davis Cup-inflicted hangover but Super Mario wasn't as super as he hoped when he was comfortably beaten by Finland's Jarkko Nieminen in the Heineken Open final yesterday.

Mario Ancic went into the final as the overwhelming favourite considering he had dispatched the likes of Andy Murray and Fernando Gonzalez with ruthless efficiency earlier in the week. But he committed more than 30 unforced errors to go down 6-2, 6-2 in 61 minutes.

For Nieminen, it was his first ATP title in his fifth final and the first by a Finn. He even had the distinction of having the match shown live on Finland TV. "It was good that it wasn't that long so they could get some sleep," the 24-year-old quipped after the match.

After a 45-minute rain delay, Nieminen was always in control of the match, breaking the world No 17 as early as the third game and adopting a fairly conservative approach against the wayward Ancic.

The only time he faced any pressure came at 2-1 in the second set when the big Croat had three break points. Ancic couldn't convert any. In comparison, Nieminen won four of his five break points to take some of the stuffing out of the vocal Croatian supporters.

"I was surprised how easy it was today," Nieminen admitted. "All of the time I expected Mario to come back [into the match]. I noticed that if I moved him around, he was making some unforced errors. I had to concentrate and keep my game solid and simple and not to try anything special."

It was a solid approach on the back of a solid game but it would be unfair to suggest there is little more to Nieminen's game than that. The 29th-ranked Finn certainly progressed through the week efficiently before his epic three-hour win over Olivier Rochus on Friday - one of the best matches the tournament has ever seen.

He shook off the effects of that match to pick up where he left off and committed less than 10 errors in the entire match to claim the US$60,000 winner's cheque. He followed the example set by Marion Bartoli's win in the women's tournament to ensure two first-time tour winners left Auckland.

For Ancic, it was a disappointing end to what had been such a promising week.

"I played four unbelievable matches and was feeling good [going into the match]," he explained. "But nothing really worked. It was tough playing an opponent who doesn't miss, who is solid. You have to be aggressive with Jarkko but in the beginning I forced things too much and it was hard to get a rhythm."

Ancic waved disconsolately to his loyal Croatian supporters at the conclusion of the match but he will go into the Australian Open, where he will meet Argentine Agustin Calleri in the first round on Monday, in confident fashion.

"I think it was a great week," he said. "I really feel good and have to take positive things to Melbourne."

In the doubles final, Romania's Andrei Pavel and the Netherlands' Rogier Wassen upset top seeds Simon Aspelin from Sweden and Australian Todd Perry 6-3, 5-7, 10-4.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY