MUNICH, Germany, May 5 (UPI) -- Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco, the sixth seed, won his third ATP title of the year Sunday, defeating local favorite Rainer Schuettler, 6-4, 6-4, at the $381,000 BMW Open claycourt event.
El Aynaoui, who collected the $48,850 winner's check, broke Schuettler's serve in the opening game of each set and held on to improve his mark in tour finals this year to 3-1.
He also captured last month's Casablanca claycourt crown and opened his 2002 campaign by winning the Doha hardcourt title.
The 30-year-old El Aynaoui's only loss in a title match this year came in February at Dubai. The Moroccan No. 1 entered 2002 with a 2-8 record in ATP finals.
El Aynaoui, who jumps to fifth in the 2002 ATP Champions Race, enjoyed success despite struggling with an arm injury at last week's claycourt event in Barcelona, where he reached the quarterfinals.
Schuettler, who fell just short of becoming the first German to win this event since Michael Stich in 1994, agreed with El Aynaoui's assessment.
"Younes was too good for me, he didn't give me a chance," Schuettler said.
Schuettler lost to El Aynaoui for the third time this season, having also faltered in the Doha semifinals and the Dubai quarterfinals.
The 26-year-old Schuettler won the last of his two career ATP titles at Shanghai last year.
