Open Sud de France—Montpellier, France
Top seed Gael Monfils thrilled his home-town fans on Sunday in Montpellier, France, defeating Canadian Vasek Pospisil 7-5, 6-3 to capture his ninth career title.
Winning his third title in Montpellier, Monfils struck six aces, won 77 percent of his first serve points, broke serve on two occasions and saved all four break points against his own delivery.
Improving to 6-0 against Pospisil in lifetime meetings, Monfils has never lost a set against his Canadian opponent.
Pospisil, who has enjoyed a nice comeback on Tour after having back surgery last year, dismissed David Goffin, Richard Gasquet and Denis Shapovalov en-route to the finals.
*****
Tata Open Maharashtra—Pune, India
Jiri Vesely won his second career title on Sunday in Pune, India, dispatching No. 8 seed Egor Gerasimov 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-3.
Experiencing up-and-down results over the last few years, Vesely used his lefty serve to great effect on Sunday by hitting 26 aces, winning 88 percent of his first serve points and breaking serve on two occasions during the two hour and 11 minute contest.
Never facing Gerasimov on Tour, Vesely will improve his ranking to No. 72 in the world on Monday from its current position of No. 107.
Gerasimov, who was playing in his first career final, defeated James Duckworth and Paolo Lorenzi earlier in the week.
*****
Cordoba Open—Cordoba, Argentina
Chilean Cristian Garin captured his third career title on Sunday in Cordoba, Argentina, dismissing top seed and home-country favorite Diego Schwartzman 2-6, 6-4, 6-0.
Garin, who had a banner year in 2019, won two titles and made another final. The No. 3 seed also defeated Pablo Cuevas earlier in the week. Hitting two aces and breaking serve on six occasions, Garin improved his head-to-head record with Schwartzman at two wins each.
Defeating Laslo Djere and Albert Ramos-Vinolas along his path to the finals, Schwartzman started strong against his hard-hitting opponent by breaking serve twice in the first set, but then couldn’t hold his momentum in the latter stages of set two. With everything to play for in set three, Garin completely distanced himself from his higher ranked opponent and reeled off six games in succession.
With his victory, Garin will move up to No. 27 in the world on Monday.
