Kooyong Classic

Andy Roddick warmed up for next week's Australian Open in ideal fashion with a 7-5 6-3 win over Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus on Saturday to win the Kooyong Classic for the third successive year.

The American, who is seeded sixth next week, outgunned Baghdatis in 76 minutes to emulate the achievement of his compatriot Michael Chang, who won the exhibition event from 1995 to 1997.

"Is there a three-for-one special where you can swap three titles here for one Australian Open?" Roddick joked in an on-court presentation.

Marcos Baghdatis set up a final against Andy Roddick at the Kooyong Classic with a 6-2 7-5 win over Chilean Fernando Gonzalez on Friday, declaring himself ready for a good run at next week's Australian Open.

The Cypriot, who reached the final at Melbourne Park two years ago, coped admirably with a gusting wind at Kooyong as he tamed the big-hitting Gonzalez, who was runner-up to Roger Federer at last year's Australian Open.

"I'm ready, I guess," Baghdatis told reporters.

World number nine Andy Murray has beaten the Melbourne heat and a dogged Ivan Ljubicic in a topsy-turvy encounter at the AAMI Classic at Kooyong on Thursday.

In a match lasting close to two hours as temperatures approached 41 degrees Celcius, Murray overcame a sluggish start to finish full of running in a 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 6-2 victory.

With neither player able to reach the final of the eight-man invitational event after both lost their opening round-robin matches on Wednesday, this clash was viewed as ideal preparation ahead of next week's Australian Open.

 Andy Roddick looked pretty good on the new Australian Open court surface, using his trademark big serve to overwhelm Marat Safin at the tune-up Kooyong Classic on Thursday.

Roddick, who has won the last two Kooyong titles, got 62 percent of his first serves in and won 93 percent of those points in a 6-3, 6-3 win over Safin. He'll play the winner of Friday's match between Marcos Baghdatis and Fernando Gonzalez in Saturday's final.

David Nalbandian's Australian Open preparation will be reduced to a sustained dose of rest. Nalbandian suffered back spasms about 25 minutes into a scheduled one-hour practice session with Marat Safin at Melbourne Park, prompting him to pull the plug on the practice and pull out of this week's AAMI Classic in Kooyong.

The 2006 Australian Open semifinalist underwent an MRI on his back and said doctors informed him he must rest for at least four days. The 10th-ranked Argentine said the pain in his back has restricted him to the point that he can't even hit balls slowly.

 A resurgent Marat Safin made a winning start to the year on Wednesday at the Kooyong Classic but refused to put pressure on himself as he attempts yet another climb back up the rankings.

The former world number one and winner of two grand slam titles made an impressive start to 2008 as he beat Andy Murray 6-1 6-4 at the eight-man exhibition event.

Safin won the Australian Open in 2005 but a series of injuries contributed to a loss of form that triggered a slide down the rankings.

A frustrated David Nalbandian is fighting to be fit for next week's Australian Open after pulling out of the warm-up event at Kooyong because of a back injury.

Argentina's David Nalbandian has been confirmed as the final entrant for the Kooyong Classic tennis tournament, a traditional warm-up event for the Australian Open.

Nalbandian will join world number one Roger Federer for the invitational tournament, where each of the eight-man field plays three matches in a promotion/relegation format.
 

World No.1 Roger Federer will again fine-tune his Australian Open preparations by headlining the field for the AAMI Classic at Kooyong in January.

 
Federer won three of the four grand slam titles in 2007 - the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open - and was runner-up to Spanish claycourt supremo Rafael Nadal at the French Open.