Montanes takes Mercedes Cup after Monfils retires
Tennis newsAlbert Montanes of Spain collected his second ATP title of the season Sunday after Gael Monfils retired from the Mercedes Cup final with an ankle injury.
The fifth-seeded Montanes was leading 6-2, 1-2 when the third-seeded Frenchman withdrew. Monfils had turned his right ankle in the final game of the first set.
The 17th-ranked Monfils had the ankle taped up and continued to play in the second set, but conceded defeat during the change after he took a 2-1 lead.
“My ankle just got worse and worse. I thought I could come back. But I wasnt 100 percent and Albert would have figured out he needed to just move me around for the win,” said Monfils, who was appearing in his first ATP final of the season and going for the third crown of his career.
The 30th-ranked Montanes earned the fifth win of his career to claim $61,000 and a Mercedes convertible.
“It was a fantastic week. This is a great victory for me and for all of Spain,” said Montanes. “Its an incredible year for Spain, in football, tennis and basketball. And Im happy to have added more joy to my country.”
The Spaniard had defeated Jurgen Melzer in the quarterfinals and countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero to reach the final.
Monday, July 19th, 2010 at 8:07 am and is filed under Tennis news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
