FORMER world number one Stefan Edberg rediscovered the form which brought him six Grand Slam titles as he won the US$760,000 Marlboro Hong Kong Championships at sunny Victoria Park yesterday.
The Swede, who broke a title drought of nearly 10 months, scored a 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) victory over Italian Andrea Gaudenzi in the final for his second successive title in Hong Kong.
The 29-year-old, ranked four places below Gaudenzi at 23, put on a polished display of controlled serve and volley and fluid ground-strokes, reminiscent of the form which helped him to two Wimbledon titles in 1988 and 1990.
'It's always great to win a tournament, wherever you win it,' said Edberg, whose last tournament victory was at Qatar in early January. 'It makes you feel like you did something special, which I did.
'The great thing was that I played well over the past two days. I did not make too many mistakes and this is something I can build on.
'I played some pretty good matches a few weeks ago and then had a setback in Tokyo. I can play really good tennis when I'm moving well. I feel like I can take these guys apart.' Edberg was beaten in the early stages of last week's Tokyo event by Australian youngster Mark Philippoussis and admitted during the week that he was half a yard slower than when he was at his peak.