Argentine Pair Monaco and Delbonis Win ATP 250 Titles
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
ATP Houston
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32 year old Argentine veteran Juan Monaco won his eight ATP title overall, and his first since 2012, when he defeated Jack Sock 3-6 6-3 7-5 for his second ATP Houston title. Monaco was ranked outside of the top 100, and hasn’t been much of a factor on the ATP tour in quite some time, but he found form on a familiar clay court surface to earn wins over Gerald Melzer, Benoit Paire, Sam Querrey, and Feliciano Lopez, along with Sock. A rather tough path for just an ATP 250. It will be interesting to see if Monaco can stay in the top 100 this year, and make further waves throughout the clay court season.
Sock is now 0-2 in finals this season, but he did beat Matt Barton, Marcos Baghdatis, and American #1 John Isner in the semifinals. His win over Isner will further aid his chances of becoming the top ranked American by the year’s end.
The legendary Bryan Brothers won their sixth ATP Houston title as they defeated Victor Estrella and Santiago Gonzalez in a close match that was decided 10-8 in a third set tiebreak.
ATP Marrakech
Embed from Getty Images19 year old Borna Coric still has the rest of the season to claim his first ATP title before he leaves his teenage years. The young Croatian was foiled by Federico Delbonis 6-2 6-4, as the top 50 dirtballer captured his second career ATP title, the other came in 2014.
Delbonis demonstrated his superior clay court prowess and form when he defeated Thiemo De Bakker, Pablo Carreno Busta, and Albert Montanes, along with Coric, without dropping a set throughout the week.
Coric only had to win a pair of matches, as he defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu and Jiri Vesely, battling hard and pulling off a pair of clutch wins. He’ll now have to jetset to Monte Carlo for a round 1 match on a bigger stage.
Maximo Gonzalez and Guillermo Duran beat Marin Draganja and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi in the doubles final. Their win further adds to what a fantastic week it was for Argentine tennis, as Argentines really shined on clay.
Tennis Atlantic 