http://www.atptennis.com/
June 23, 2002
Schalken in Seventh Heaven in 's-Hertogenbosch

==The Dutchman won his seventh career title, his first on home soil and
his first on grass, when he scored a final win over Arnaud Clement at
the Ordina Open.==

Dutchman Sjeng Schalken captured his seventh career title, his
first on home soil and his first on grass, when he defeated
Frenchman Arnaud Clement in the final of the Ordina Open in
's-Hertogenbosch.

Schalken, 25, has now won one ATP title each year for the past
four years, and in seven of the last eight years. For the third
time in the tournament, Schalken was forced to rally from a set
down before winning, eventually beating Clement 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Clement was searching for his second career title having won Lyon
in 2000.

Schalken, who reached the Queen's semifinals the previous week,
said it was a "very special" victory. "I've won titles all over
the world, but it feels good to win in front of your own crowd.
I'm very happy to win my seventh title and I've been working very
hard for this.

"I prefer this title to everything. He was playing very well in
the beginning. He was running down everything and passing me all
the time. I changed tactics in the second set and I didn't let
him run."

Clement led 2-1 in the third set but Schalken, who has reached
the third round at Wimbledon in each of the last three years,
won five consecutive games to close out the match. "I knew Arnaud
could always come back, even at 5-2 down in the third, because
I've lost to him a couple of times when I was leading," said
Schalken. "So I really had to concentrate, even at 5-2 up with
a double break in the third set."

Clement was appearing in his first final since the 2001 Australian
Open. He had endured a relatively modest year before 's-Hertogenbosch,
winning just 12 of 26 matches for the season. This was his first grass
court tournament of the year, and his first outing since losing 8-6
in the fifth set to eventual semifinalist Alex Corretja in the third
round at Roland Garros.

"It was a great week for me at a great place," said Clement. "The first
set was perfect for me, after that Sjeng played better. Sjeng was too
good for me today. Winning two matches at Roland Garros was good for
my confidence."

Earlier in the tournament, top seed Lleyton Hewitt was forced to
withdraw before the start of his quarterfinal against Clement after
suffering with a stomach virus. Hewitt, the defending champion, said:
"I just feel nauseous all the time. I felt it for the first time when I
was practicing on Monday. I struggled through my first two matches and I
lost a lot of fluid and energy on Tuesday in the heat. I was able to scrape
through my match [against Mikhail Youzhny], but I wasn't able to play my
best tennis."

Second seed Roger Federer also went out in the quarterfinals, losing to
Schalken in three sets.