Last modified: Monday, July 14, 2008 2:39 AM EDT Defending champion Fabrice Santoro, of France, returns to Prakash Amritraj, of India, in the finals of the Hall of Fame tennis championships. Santoro defends crown BY PETER GOBIS SUN CHRONICLE STAFF NEWPORT, R.I. - In winning four matches over four straight days, all in straight sets, Fabrice Santoro did not allow many opportunities for his opponents in winning his second straight International Tennis Hall of Fame Championships. Santoro held service in 30 of 33 games. "And every time I broke back, it's important to react quickly instead of being down," said Santoro, who began his pro career in 1989, at the French Open, the very same site and year that this year's Hall of Fame inductee Michael Chang won his first Grand Slam event. Despite gusty winds blowing at 20-25 knots out of the south, which played havoc with service tosses, Santoro played havoc with Prakash Amritraj, scoring a 6-3, 7-5 victory Sunday. In the very first game of the match, serving into the wind and tossing the ball into sparkling sunshine, Santoro dropped service. That never occurred again. He lost just four points on his next four service games in the first set, taking it when he broke Amritraj's service in the second and fourth games. Santoro lost just three points on his six service games in the second set. "When you start your career at 16 years old, you can never imagine that 20 years later you win a title," beamed Santoro. "I'm very lucky, but it's not only luck. I have the same energy five, 10, 15 years ago, maybe more. I feel like a kid, I feel like a junior on the court." It was almost to be expected - Santoro ranked No. 57 - against Amritraj - a wild card ranked No. 305. Despite Amritraj's 24 years of youth, it was Santoro's 18 years on the tour (35 years in age) and 451 career wins as compared to Amritraj's 17 career wins. Santoro became the first player 35 years of age or older to win an ATP title since Andre Agassi did so at the same age in 2005 at Los Angeles - just the 16th player in the "modern era (since 1980)" of tennis to do so. In reaching his 12th career final, taking his sixth career title, Santoro pocketed $64,000 and now ranks fourth among active ATP players in victories - trailing only Roger Federer (594), Carlos Moya (557) and Lleyton Hewitt (485). Santoro became just the third back-to-back winner at Newport, along with Bryan Shelton (1991-92) and Greg Rusedski (2004-05). "I knew that he was going to be very aggressive," said Santoro of Amritraj. "He was playing unbelievable (in the first game), he took some risks. Because he was aggressive, if it's windy, it would be tough for me to get a lot of first service, tough for me to pass him." Santoro answered that by being successful on 70 percent of his first serves and winning 76 percent (29-for-38) of his first service points, 18 of 19 in the second set. "I put more pressure on his serve," added Santoro, Amritraj being successful on just 53 percent of his first serves in the second set. Amritraj was bidding to become the first native of India to win an ATP title since Leander Paes won at Newport in 1998. "Probably for the first time, I was the favorite to win, because of my ranking," continued Santoro. "It was a new position for me. Even if you are a little bit nervous, you don't show too much emotion. You try to be calm. If you get too nervous, if you throw your racquet - when I hit some good shots, at 35, 36 years old, I'm happy to be on the court." Santoro had planned on retiring at season's end, perhaps after the U.S. Open, but now might play a few select tournaments in 2009, defending his Newport title. "I said that if I win, I be back. To be back is easy. I have to be back in good shape, good shape is even more difficult."