Spain’s Marcel Granollers won his second title of the year when he beat Argentina’s Juan Monaco 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7/3) at the Valencia Open on Sunday.
It was a third crown for the 34th-ranked Spaniard, who finished runner-up in Valencia last year to compatriot David Ferrer and whose previous titles were on clay at Gstaad this year and Houston in 2008.
Both players arrived unseeded in Valencia and had beaten some notable names on their way to the final which lasted more than three hours on the hard courts of the iconic Agora building in Spain’s third city.
The 27-year-old Argentine showed great fight to come back from a set down against a tenacious Granollers and take the match to the wire.
However, the Spaniard displayed great speed and superb tennis from the back of the court.
Granollers began well breaking Monaco’s serve in the second game and racing to a 3-0 lead, before finally taking the first set 6-2. An early break helped Monaco pull level by taking the second set 6-4.
Monaco broke serve early in the third set and held his advantage until the eighth game. The two held serve in the final four games to send the title match to a deciding tiebreak.
The Spaniard got a quick mini-break and never looked back, finally defeating the Argentine just as the match moved into its fourth hour of play.
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