Argentina’s Juan Monaco captured his fourth tournament of the year by winning a hard fought match against Julien Benneteau of France 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in for the Malaysian Open title.
“I think we played a great match, with a lot of ups and downs,” Monaco said the over three-hour long match. “I got a little nervous when I had chances, but I never gave up, particularly in the 12th game of the first set. He surprised me a little bit with his comeback in the second set. In the final set, I knew I had to be more aggressive and I am happy the way I finished the match.
“I’d like to relax now and enjoy the victory. It isn’t easy to win tournaments, but I will focus on the next challenge and go to Tokyo tomorrow. It has been nice to be in this city and win the trophy. It feels very good. When I win a title, I think of my family and my team, as they believe in me, they have supported me and we have worked hard to win tournaments.”
“I was very focused on this game, because I wanted to win this final, Benneteau. The fans were great; there was a lot of French in the crowd. It was a nice atmosphere and the game was a good level.”
No. 34 Benneteau was trying to become the first player over 30 to win his first ATP title. It was his 199th career ATP World Tour tournament.
World No. 11 Monaco received $153,440 in prize money for his victory, his seventh career tournament win.
RESULTS – SUNDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER, 2012
Singles – Final
[2] J Monaco (ARG) d [7] J Benneteau (FRA) 75 46 63
Doubles – Final
[3] A Peya (AUT) / B Soares (BRA) d C Fleming (GBR) / R Hutchins (GBR) 57 75 10-7