Younes El Aynaoui captured his second title of the
clay-court swing with a straight-sets win over Rainer Schuettler in the final
of the BMW Open in Munich.
The Moroccan climbs three places to fifth in this year's Champions Race after
his 6-4 6-4 success.
He has won a career-best three titles this season and now believes he has a
chance to qualify for the Masters Cup in Shanghai.
El Aynaoui broke Schuettler in the first game of both sets to set up
the win, with his only slip coming at 4-1 in the second when, after
leading 40-0, El Aynaoui dropped serve.
But with a break already in hand, El Aynaoui steadied to close out the match
and claim his second title in four weeks, having won his home title in
Casablanca.
El Aynaoui said: "I had a problem with my arm last week in Barcelona
(where he lost to Lleyton Hewitt in the quarter-finals). I didn't think I was
going to be able to play this week.
"I played very well today. I was on top of the match all the time."
He added: "I've started to think about the Masters Cup. Now I will focus even
more on the big tournaments. It's my best start to a year."
Schuettler admitted he was beaten by the better player.
"Younes was too good for me and he didn't give me a chance," said the German.
"He had too much power on his serve and forehand, and I had to run from behind
all the time.
"I lost my serve straight away and you can't afford that against a player like
Younes. I was always a break behind; he was never in danger."
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