Montanes, Monaco, Kanepi, Cornet Win ATP/WTA Titles
Outsider Montanes Wins ATP Nice
Spaniard Al Montanes won his sixth career title Saturday at the ATP stop in Nice, ending French wildcard Gael Monfils’ run 6-0, 7-6(3) at the Open de Nice Cote d’Azur.
“I was not supposed to play here in the first place,” Montanes said. “I was in my home town, 200km from Barcelona, with friends when I found out I was entering the main draw last Saturday night. So it’s pretty incredible that I am here now with the Nice trophy.”
The 32-year-old Montanes won his first title since 2010. Monfils dropped to 4-14 career in finals. “I played a lot of matches in the past two weeks and I felt maybe a bit tired physically and mentally,” Monfils said.
Monaco Drops Nieminen to 2-11 in Finals at Dusseldorf
No. 3-seeded Argentine Juan Monaco won the inaugural Power Horse Cup on Saturday in Dusseldorf with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Jarkko Nieminen in the final.
“I played club tennis here in 2006 and 2007, then I played the World Team Cup two times and we were champions and finalists,” the 29-year-old Monaco said. “There must be something here. I feel very good every time I go on center court, I feel something special.”
Monaco improved to 8-9 in career finals. Nieminen dropped to 2-11 in career finals, and has yet to win a clay title.
Kanepi Wins 2 Matches in 1 Day to Win Brussels Open
Kaia Kanepi won two matches on Saturday to capture the title at the Brussels Open.
Making up for rain-delayed matches, Kanepi defeated American Jamie Hampton 7-6(4), 6-4, then in the final later in the day topped Peng Shuai 6-2, 7-5.
“It was a difficult second set where I had match point in many games but just couldn’t finish it,” Kanepi said. “I was playing really well until 6-2, 5-2, but I’ve had problems like this before. I just kept trying to pump myself up and not get too negative about losing the situations I had earlier.”
Shuai in her semifinals defeated Romina Oprandi 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Kanepi won her fourth WTA title. “This makes me feel very happy after such a hard half year when I was out injured,” she said. “I started playing again on clay, which I really like, and I’ve been getting my confidence back week after week.”
Shuai fell to 0-5 in career finals.
Cornet Wins 1st 2013 Title on Home Turf at Strasbourg
France’s Alize Cornet captured the title on her home turf at Strasbourg on Saturday, defeating Lucie Hradecka 7-6(4), 6-0 to raise the trophy at the Internationaux de Strasbourg.
“It was a very tight first set — we were both serving very well and we didn’t break each other much,” Cornet said. “In the tiebreak it came down to just one or two points, and then in the second set it went way faster because everything she had been putting on the lines in the beginning started to go out.”
Hradecka, who fell to 0-6 career in WTA finals, double faulted in the tiebreak at 4-5.
Cornet improved to 3-3 in career finals.
You Might Like:
ATP/WTA Previews: Soderling, Verdasco Headline Bastad
Isner, Kerber, Stephens Lead ATP/WTA Events
Almagro, Montanes, Kanepi, Szavay Win Titles: Weekend Wrap
ATP/WTA Previews: Nice, Dusseldorf, Warsaw, Strasbourg
Isner, Querrey in Newport, Haas in Stuttgart; ATP/WTA Previews