Monfils Prevails In Metz - "The Curse Is Over"
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Open de Moselle singles champion Gael Monfils of France(Photos by AP)
METZ, France (AP)Gael Monfils ended a four-year title drought with a 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-2 victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany in the Open de Moselle final on Sunday.Monfils served 14 aces and broke the 23rd-ranked Kohlschreiber twice in the third set before closing out the match. The Frenchman had won their previous encounter last year in Vienna Monfils, who reached the fourth round at this year’s U.S. Open, won his second career ATP title following his victory in Sopot, Poland, in 2005.
Kohlschreiber saved three set points in the first set to force a tiebreaker that Monfils concluded at the net with a drop shot.
Kohlschreiber broke Monfils in the sixth game of the second set and leveled with an ace. But the Frenchman finally broke his opponent’s serve twice to improve to 2-6 in ATP finals.
“For a long time people spoke about my lost finals,” Monfils said. “But now the curse is over. I’m happy with this victory. I managed to win, and on top of that it was in France.”
The 13th-ranked Monfils added that he wouldn’t be satisfied “until I win the French Open, which is my ultimate goal.”
The last Frenchman to win the French Open was Yannick Noah, in 1983.
What next?
You can also bookmark this post using your favorite bookmarking service:
Digg this postAdd to Technorati Faves
Add to Google Bookmarks
![[Valid Atom 1.0]](valid-atom.png "Validate my Atom 1.0 feed")
|