Simon Beats Monfils to Win Second Marseille Title

Simon Beats Monfils to Win Second Marseille Title

  • Posted: Feb 23, 2015

simon10 Simon Beats Monfils to Win Second Marseille Title

 

In an all-French final on Sunday afternoon, Gilles Simon edged countryman Gael Monfils to lift the Open 13 title in Marseille for the second time in his career.

Simon, who moved to 5-1 in the head-to-head series against Monfils, defeated the entertaining crowd pleaser 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4). His win was made easier since Monfils’ error count continued to rise as the match progressed. After two hours and 30 minutes, Simon closed out the match and lifted his 12th career title on the ATP World Tour.

“It was a great week, but a tough one physically,” said Simon, who spent eight hours and 53 minutes on court in his five matches. “I left a lot of energy against [Borna] Coric (in the second round) and then it was hard to recover from this one. I’m happy I won here since I won my first tournament in Marseille. I hope it won’t be the last one.”

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Simon was awarded €102,900 and 250 ATP Ranking points for his efforts. Monfils took home 150 points and €54,200 for his runner-up finish.

“I’m disappointed,” said Monfils. “It was a great match and we both played really well.”

Monfils’ loss to the world No. 17 means the Frenchman drops to a 5-17 record in Tour finals.

http://www.stevegtennis.com/2015/02/simon-beats-monfils-to-win-second-marseille-title/