Hendrik Bode earned a wild-card berth into the main draw of the Honolulu Challenger yesterday when he defeated Ikaika Jobe at the Patsy T. Mink Central O'ahu Regional Park Tennis Complex.

The third-seeded Bode prevailed, 7-6 (3), 2-0, when the top-seeded Jobe retired due to a strained muscle in his left gluteus maximus.

Jobe said he suffered the injury Saturday when he played eight sets, including doubles, to reach yesterday's singles final.

"Even playing the doubles (Saturday), I couldn't really serve that well," Jobe said. "I was actually surprised how well I was serving in the first set (today)."

Bode overcame an early two-game deficit in the first set before winning the tiebreaker.

"It was a tough first set," said Bode, who was Hawai'i Pacific's top player the past three years. "I knew it was going to come down to one or two points here or there to win the set. Fortunately, I came out on top."

Bode said he was not aware of Jobe's injury.

"I saw him make a few awkward steps after a few volleys, but I had no idea that he was injured," he said. "When he came up to the net (in the second set) and said, 'You won!' I was surprised, but I couldn't feel too happy either."

The doubles final was suspended because of rain and will resume today at the University of Hawai'i Tennis Complex at 4 p.m. The second-seeded team of Nikola Petrov and Daniel Luedi leads the UH team of Jeffery Fitch and Daniel Llarenas, 7-6 (6), 4-4.

Bode will now compete with the ATP Tour's elite players at the Honolulu Challenger, which is scheduled to be played at CORP from Jan. 24 to 31.

ELSEWHERE

Roddick triumphs: Top-seeded Andy Roddick survived a second-set collapse yesterday to win the Brisbane (Australia) International title, beating defending champion Radek Stepanek after the Czech player double-faulted on match point.

Roddick's 7-6 (2), 7-6 (7) victory capped his first tournament in nearly three months since a season-ending knee injury in 2009.

"Radek, I know you won here last year and you were undefeated on this court and for a while I thought it might be your destiny," Roddick told the crowd. "One thing about you, you get to every ball and never give up the fight."

Stepanek held set point at 7-6 in the second-set tiebreaker. Roddick won the next two points on serve, then saw Stepanek double-fault to hand him the title.

Cilic prevails: Marin Cilic of Croatia retained the Chennai (India) Open title yesterday, defeating Stanislas Wawrinka, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3), in the final for his first victory in five matches against the Swiss player.