Clement Caps Off 'Perfect' Week

Frenchman's Effort Wins Legg Mason

Britain's Andy Murray thrust his arms skyward in triumph yesterday at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, but it was only to celebrate getting an instant-replay challenge correct after going 0 for 5 earlier in the tournament. Even Coach Brad Gilbert, looking on from the fourth row, had to chuckle at his young charge's display of mock showboating.

Apart from that fleeting victory, Murray and his mentor were left with little to cheer about, as the 19-year-old Scottish hopeful was felled decisively in yesterday's final by a tiny Frenchman playing huge tennis and two tiny blisters on his right hand.

Arnaud Clement, 28, capped a sterling week of play by upsetting Murray, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, before a capacity crowd at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center, where the bright sun and scant breeze made hats and paper fans more coveted commodities than parking spaces. It was Clement's fourth title in a 10-year career, and he won it without dropping a set, toppling former world No. 1 players Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin en route.

"I enjoy this title," said Clement, the 11th seed, whose only other title this year came before a partisan crowd in Marseilles, France. "I beat a lot of good players, and it gives me a lot of confidence in everything. Everything was perfect in my game -- my fitness, my game -- everything."

Murray, the tournament's eighth seed, hadn't dropped a set during his march to the final, either. While he opened strong, breaking a jittery Clement in the opening game, Murray paid dearly for his unreliable forehand, which only got more errant after he popped two blisters on his right hand early in the second set. He finished with 31 unforced errors, to Clement's 20.

After falling behind 2-0 in the second set, Murray called for the trainer, who swathed the open sores with medicine and bandaged the hand. While it hardly dictated the outcome, Murray said, the annoyance of both the blisters and bandage proved one more distraction that he didn't need against Clement, who refused to be cowed by the Scot's powerful groundstrokes, higher ranking or bigger stature (6 feet 1, to Clement's 5-8).

"You try not to think about it," Murray said of the blisters. "It's just uncomfortable. It's like when you are writing -- if someone is nudging your arm when you're trying to write a word, it's similar to that. You can still play, but it's not very comfortable."

Clement was hardly handed the victory; he earned it soundly, playing with tremendous effort and guile. He answered Murray's hardest strokes by uncorking the full weight of his 160-pound frame into his shots. He raced down drop shots that looked like sure winners, and he attacked at opportune moments, winning the point on 18 of his 26 forays to the net.

"He played really well," Murray conceded. "He doesn't make too many mistakes. He's got a lot more experience than me. He's been in a Grand Slam final [losing the 2001 Australian Open to Andre Agassi], and he maybe dealt with the situation better. I just made a few too many mistakes, which I'll definitely learn from."

Twice in the opening set Murray was up a service break. He had a chance to take a 5-3 lead on his serve, but flubbed three forehands to get broken right back. Clement, meantime, remained steady, content to slug as many balls as it took before the Scot erred again.

With neither able to close the set, a tiebreaker was needed to settle it. They swapped mini-breaks early, then Clement ran down a drop shot on Murray's serve and crushed the ball down the line for a winner to go ahead 4-3. Clement raised his play from there, sensing Murray's vulnerability. He won both points on his own serve for a 6-3 lead that gave him triple set point.

And he won the tiebreaker by zooming across the court to retrieve what looked like a winning drop shot and flicking the ball into the open court. The crowd erupted in cheers, shifting its loyalty to Clement, who was clearly pouring more effort into the match, and the Frenchman clenched his fists in triumph.

Murray's unraveling came quickly in the second set, in which he won only 19 points.

He fell behind 4-0 and rallied only briefly, when Clement served for the match at 5-2. Murray challenged a call on the first point -- a Clement forehand that the lines official had called "in." Instant replay confirmed that Murray was correct; the ball was out. Clement double-faulted on the next point, and Murray hit a crisp volley winner for double break-point. But the Frenchman clawed back into the game and sealed the victory when Murray smacked one last backhand wide.

Gilbert accentuated the positive afterward, stressing Murray's achievement in reaching the final without dropping a set.

"We've got to improve his serve a lot and his fitness, and I'd like to see him taking more offensive risks," Gilbert said. "He's a great kid -- a really bright guy and very smart thinker on the court. He's got a lot of room for improvement, but he's very talented and can get a lot better."