This Past Week on the ATP World Tour: Monfils Finally Wins in 2016
Four tournaments were contested this week on the ATP World Tour including one 500 level event.
After exciting action on grass concluding with another memorable Wimbledon, the ATP Tour is in the middle of the North-American Hard Court Swing which includes two ATP Masters 1000 events: the Rodgers Cup in Toronto starting tomorrow, and after that the Tour returns to Cincinnati for the Western and Southern Open.
The first tournament on this portion of the schedule, the Citi Open, took place this past week in Washington D.C. Three 250 level events in Croatia, Switzerland, and Austria also crowned champions.
Citi Open: Gael Monfils Claims Sixth Career Title
The 29-year-old Frenchman had one thing in common with PGA Tour golfer Kevin Chappell prior to Sunday’s final: consistent play without a win.
Appearing in his 10th tournament of the season, Monfils had done everything expect add a trophy to his case.
He appeared in the final at Rotterdam losing to Martin Klizan, and after reaching the quarterfinals in back to back Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami, losing to Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori respectively, he backed up his great play the next week reaching the final in Monte Carlo only to loose to the king of clay, Rafael Nadal in three sets.
Losing in the first round to fellow countryman Jeremy Chardy at Wimbledon was a cause for concern. But the current world number 17 quickly dismissed all questions about the state of his game defeating Ivo Karlovic 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-4 in the men’s singles final.
Monfils victory was his first in two years; his last victory came at the Open Sud De France in Montpellier. It is also his first career victory on U.S. soil. With the win, Gael earns 500 Emirates ATP Ranking points, and $348,200 in prize money.
Just when it looked like Karlovic had captured his second straight title in as many starts after winning in Newport, Monfils came up with his first break point of the match in the 10th game with his opponent serving for the match at 5-4.
Saving championship point with his speed and unbelievable shot making completely changed the momentum of the match. Monfils gave the lead right back to Karlovic on serve making it 6-5.
Just like at 5-4, the same situation arose again, and once more Monfils broke serve saving match point number two with a forehand winner forcing a tiebreaker. He would go on to win that and the final set.
Monfils has wanted to win this tournament after falling short in the final back in 2011.
Karlovic made to many mistakes when it mattered most, but reaching back-to-back finals is a great accomplishment, and he had a great week. Karlovic will play at the Rodgers Cup and will face Taylor Fritz of the United States in the first round.
Monfils will look to continue momentum at the Rogers Cup when he faces Joao Sousa of Portugal in the first round.
J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad: Feliciano Lopez wins fifth career title
Playing for the 10th time in this 250 level event, Lopez finally won a title he so desperately wanted defeating Robin Haase in straight sets 6-4, 7-5 in a match that lasted just 77 minutes.
The 34-year-old became the seventh Spaniard to win on Tour in 2016, and he waited 10 years to win this event after finishing as the runnerup in 2006. With the victory, he earns 250 ranking points and $82,450 in prize money.
Lopez, the top seed at this event and world number 21, had been playing good tennis this year reaching the semifinals in Dubai, the semis at the U.S. Clay Court Championships, and he won the French Open doubles crown with his partner Marc Lopez defeating the Bryan brothers.
Haase, the 95th ranked player in the world, had reached the quarterfinals just twice prior to this event this season in Mexico and Romania.
Next: ATP World Tour: Who is the Best American in the World
Other Action:
Generali Open (250): Pablo Lorenzi became the oldest first-time winner in ATP World Tour history when he defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3, 6-4. This was his second career appearance in a final. The 34-year-old Italian was a finalist in Sao Paulo in 2014.
Konzum Croatia Open Umag (250): Fabio Fognini became the second Italian to win this week when he defeated unseeded Andrej Martin 6-4, 6-1 for his fourth career title. His last win prior to this triumph came in 2014 at Vina Del Mar. He is the first Italian winner in the tournaments 26 year history.