It’s Monfils In Montpellier, A Quad For Cilic & Fognini Continues Upward Title Trend
Steen Kirby, Tennis East Coast
ATP Montpellier
Gael Monfils won his fifth career ATP title and second career Montpellier title on Sunday, defeating top seed and fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-4 in an all French final.
Monfils continued his strong play this year as he beat Lukasz Kubot in tough sets, Joao Sousa and Denis Istomin in straights, and Jarkko Nieminen in 3 sets before meeting Gasquet.
Gasquet bested Paul-Henri Mathieu in straights, Albano Olivetti in the same fashion and Jerzy Janowicz in 2 tiebreak sets to reach the final.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTGQ5ndnkZE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t697LU4nMoc
Nikolay Davydenko/Denis Istomin are your doubles champions over Marc Gicquel/Nicolas Mahut.
ATP Zagreb
Marin Cilic won his fourth Zagreb title 6-3, 6-4 over Tommy Haas in front of the home fans for his 10th career ATP title, with all having come at the 250 level. It’s a big milestone for Cilic, as he has come back strong from a very controversial doping suspension that kept him out of half the season last year and he will certainly feel vindicated further with this result.
Cilic beat Mate Delic, Dusan Lajovic, Ivan Dodig, and surprise semifinalist/qualifier Bjorn Phau, all in straight sets. He didn’t drop a set in Zagreb all week.
Haas had a bit of a tougher time, making the final with a 3 set win over Benjamin Becker, a straight set win over Andrey Kuznetsov and a 3 set semifinal victory over lucky loser Dan Evans.
Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau won the doubles crown over Philipp Marx/Michal Mertinak.
ATP Vina Del Mar
Fabio Fognini dispatched surprise finalist Leonardo Mayer 6-2, 6-4 in an hour and a half to claim his third career ATP title, all of which have come this year and last year, and all of which have come on clay.
The red-hot Italian beat Aljaz Bedene in straights, Jeremy Chardy in 3 sets, and Nicolas Almagro in 3 sets before having a much easier time in the final.
Mayer saved match points to upset Tommy Robredo in 3 sets in round 2. Before that, he whipped Andreas Haider-Maurer in straights, and he earned a 3 set victory over Daniel Gimeno-Traver and a straight set win over Santiago Giraldo in the semifinals.
Oliver Marach/Florin Mergea beat Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah to take the doubles title.
Tennis Atlantic 