Sydney - David Nalbandian struggled for two and a quarter hours to subdue Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 6-7 (9-11), 6-2, winning the 10th title of his career on Saturday at the Medibank International.

Nieminen, winner of one career trophy three years ago in Auckland, gave the fourth-seeded Argentine multiple frights in their battle played in front of the namesake of the newly christened Ken Rosewall stadium.

Nalbandian now holds a 7-4 lead in his series with number 40 Niemimen, which began in 2002 at Estoril in another final. The winner is the first from his nation to lift the prize in Sydney.

London, Jan 17 : World number four Andy Murray has said that he has the stomach to cope with being favourite to land the Australian Open title, and becoming Britain’s first men’s champion at a Slam for 73 years when he takes on Romanian Andrei Pavel in the first round.

Murray is the bookies’ choice to land the first Grand Slam of the year after a sensational start to 2009, FOX Sports reported.

Melbourne - Jelena Jankovic has no time to waste on doubters who suggest that without having yet won a Grand Slam title, she does not deserve to hold the top WTA ranking.

But the determined Serb seems ready to deal with the critics through her racket and won't waste mental energy with the Australian Open starting on Monday.

"I'm just a girl who enjoys her tennis. I go to the court with a smile on my face, and that's what matters," she said. "I don't really think and stress about ranking, Grand Slams, so many other things.

Melbourne - German Nicolas Kiefer on Saturday lost his fight for fitness, withdrawing from the Australian Open due to an ankle injury he suffered a week ago.

Kiefer had been hoping for a miracle recovery after turning his ankle during a match in Perth at the Hopman Cup.

He was taken off of court in a wheelchair and later underwent a hospital scan which showed tendon and ligament damage.

The 31-year-old fell victim to the worst possible luck as he suffered a freak mishap while leading Slovakia's Domink Hrbaty 3-1 in their group match.

Melbourne - Rafael Nadal Saturday followed the lead of Roger Federer, saying he would prefer if the Australian Open were played in February instead of its traditional January date.

"I would love (to) have the first Grand Slam of the season a little bit later," said the top seed. "You start the season and after one week you are playing one of the most important tournaments of the year."

Auckland - Argentine Juan Del Potro resumed where he left off last season, winning the fifth title of his career in the space of seven months with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Sam Querrey in the Heineken Open final on Saturday.

The success required less than 90 minutes and puts the world number nine into good position with the Australian Open starting on Monday.

Querrey now stands 1-1 in ATP finals after winning Las Vegas last spring.