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Murray beats Nadal and Federer in Toronto

August 16, 2010

Phoenix, AZ — HEAD player Andy Murray became the first player in a decade and a half to win two consecutive titles in Canada, defeating Roger Federer 7-5, 7-5 at the Toronto Masters. The win in just over two hours marked a breakthrough — it was Murray’s first victory in a final against Federer after losing in Bangkok 2005, the US Open two years ago and at the Australian Open in January.

The trophy marks the fifth at the Masters 1000 level for Murray, all of them on hard-courts. The Scot has now claimed his breakthrough title for 2010.

“It’s so tough closing out a match against Roger,” said Murray, who won his 15th career trophy with his YOUTEK Radical Pro. “It was incredibly difficult conditions for both of us. The rain did not help but going into the locker room gave me time to think.” Murray and Federer played through distractions and a cumulative two hours of rain interruptions spread over the afternoon.

Murray became the fifth different player to beat world’s No.1 and No 3, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the same tournament. The HEAD player now stands 30-11 this season after claiming his first trophy of 2010.

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HEAD racquet rebel Novak Djokovic faced Federer in a rollercoaster semi final with Federer winning after three sets. In perhaps the strangest match on the ATP World Tour this season, Federer looked as though he would cruise into the final in less than an hour. But Djokovic came back and was fighting hard: “I didn’t find my rhythm. After only half an hour it was already set and he was up a break. But I managed to come back, and I started feeling the ball better.”

In Cincinnati, HEAD’s Victoria Azarenka partnered with Russian Maria Kirilenko to win the doubles title over experienced American Lisa Raymond and Australian Rennae Stubbs 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (10-8). Azarenka from Belarus, who plays with a YOUTEK Extreme Pro, said crowds watching the final under threatening clouds with stadium lights shining spurred her team on.

“It’s amazing when so many people come to watch doubles. It gives you good energy to try to stay in the match. Even if I lost in singles in the first round, I still played pretty well. I’m happy being on the court competing, I’m really excited and working hard for the US Open.”

Azarenka and Kirilenko were playing only their second event together after a semi-final at Stanford.

ABOUT HEAD: HEAD NV is a leading global manufacturer and marketer of premium branded sports equipment. HEAD NV’s ordinary shares are listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange (“HEAD”).Our business is organized into four divisions: Winter Sports, Racquet Sports, Diving and Licensing. We sell products under the HEAD (tennis, squash, paddle and racquetball racquets, tennis balls, tennis footwear, badminton products, alpine skis, ski bindings and ski boots, protection, snowboards, bindings and boots), Penn (tennis and racquetball balls), Tyrolia (ski bindings), and Mares/Dacor (diving equipment) brands. We hold leading positions in all of our product markets and our products are endorsed by some of the world’s top athletes including Novak Djokovic, Andrew Murray, Gilles Simon, Stanislas Wawrinka, Robin Soderling, Ivan Ljubicic, Victoria Azarenka, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Patty Schnyder, Zhou Mi, Karim Darwish, Jack Huczek, Hermann Maier, Bode Miller, Didier Cuche, Marco Büchel, Patrick Staudacher, Rainer Schönfelder, Markus Larsson, Anja Paerson, Maria Riesch, Elisabeth Görgl, Sarka Zahrobska and Jon Olsson.