France’s Gael Monfils won his third career title on Sunday, beating Croatian veteran Ivan Ljubicic 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 in the final of the inaugural Montpellier ATP tournament.
It was third time lucky for the world No. 15, who had to pull out of the Stuttgart final earlier this year and was beaten in Tokyo.
“I am so happy about this title, and it’s even more special because it’s in France and in front of my crowd,” the 24-year-old Monfils said.
“Since the US Open I’ve been returning serve better and better. I feel I have been working on many things on and off the court and the results are now showing,” he said.
“It’s a wonderful experience for me here, but we’re all thinking about the Davis Cup, so I’m hoping to see you all in Belgrade,” added Monfils, in reference to France’s Davis Cup final against Serbia from Dec. 3 to Dec. 5.
The Parisian adds to his previous titles in Sopot (2005) and Metz (2009).
Monfils has often been accused of lacking concentration at key moments of his career but he showed true grit and determination on his way to the final in an all-French semi-final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Saturday.
Ljubicic said after his semi-final win on Saturday that he still felt fresh, mainly because he needed only two sets to dispose of Spain’s Albert Montanes 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).
The Croat, however, looked anything but sprightly as an inspired Monfils used a combination of aggression and precision to race to a commanding first set win.
Ljubicic lifted his game to pull level in a closer second set, however that gave the 31-year-old only brief hope before he was totally outclassed in a decider in which his normally formidable serve failed to show.
World No. 17 Ljubicic had been bidding to win his second title of the year, having beaten Andy Roddick to claim the Indian Wells trophy in March.
In the past four weeks, he has reached three ATP semi-finals. Monfils becomes the fourth French player to win an ATP title this year, joining Michael Llodra, Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon.
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