Ferrer defends Acapulco championship

ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP)â€"Top-seeded David Ferrer captured his third straight title at the Mexican Open on Saturday, beating fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 6-2 in the final.

Ferrer broke Verdasco twice in each set to wrap up the match in just over an hour.

“As Fernando hits so hard, I knew I had to be solid and counter him and I think I did it very well, especially at the beginning,” Ferrer said. “I also know Fernando didn’t play his best tennis today but that’s tennis. You have good days and sometimes bad days.”

The sixth-ranked Ferrer won his second clay-court title in as many weeks, following his victory last Sunday at the Copa Claro event in Buenos Aires.

Ferrer also won the Heineken Open title in Auckland to open the season. He has an 18-1 record to start 2012, the only loss coming to Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

Verdasco was aiming for his first title since winning in Barcelona in 2010.

“I am extremely disappointed I wasn’t able to have the fight I was expecting to have,” he said. “I just couldn’t keep the ball in the court today. It’s always tough to lose a final, but losing it that way hurts a lot more.”

In the women’s event, Italy’s Sara Errani defeated compatriot Flavia Pennetta 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-0 to win her third WTA title.

Pennetta captured the first set, which was filled with mistakes. Neither player managed to hold serve in the first seven games, and Errani was able to hold only once in the entire set.

Errani bounced back to win the second set in a tiebreaker, and gained momentum to take the deciding set 6-0 to complete the 2 1/2-hour match.

“It was such a tough final against Flavia,” she said. “It’s never easy playing an Italian but I played really well, especially in the third set.”

Errani also won the doubles title with partner Roberta Vinci, becoming the first player in nearly two years to win the singles and doubles at the same WTA tournament.