Rochus Wins 1st All-Belgian Tour Final at ATP Munich

Posted on May 8, 2006

No. 5 seed Olivier Rochus won the first-ever all-Belgian men's tournament final of the Open Era (since 1968) Sunday at the ATP claycourt stop in Munich, defeating unseeded countryman Kristof Vliegen 6-4, 6-2. It was the second title for Rochus after Palermo in 2000.

"He didn't play his best match today," Rochus said of his good friend Vliegen. "I was very solid, playing aggressively when I could -- no mistakes. I was feeling good. Kris also helped me a little bit sometimes, especially in the second set. I'm just very happy. To win another title six years after the first is amazing."

In addition to 44,100 Euros, Rochus also took home a BMW Z4 Couple 3.0i, and improved to 2-3 in career finals.

Vliegen drops to 0-2 in career finals.

"I didn't get killed from the beginning," Vliegen told reporters. "But it's tough to find good solutions against him. Today was a great moment for me, for Belgium and for Olivier."

In the doubles final, Romanian Andrei Pavel and German Alexander Waske defeated wildcards Alexander Peya of Austria and German Bjorn Phau 6-4, 6-2 for their first title as a team.