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5/9/10 9:07 PM | Ricky Dimon
Albert Montanes goes back-to-back at the Estoril Open, winning the title on Sunday by defeating Frederico Gil. Montanes fights back from two breaks down in the third set.
Albert Montanes successfully defended his Estoril Open title, and he did it the hard way.
Not only did he topple world No. 1 Roger Federer in the semifinals, but Montanes also faced a home-court disadvantage in the final against Portugal's own Frederico Gil.
No matter. With the crowd squarely behind Gil, Montanes battle past the Portuguese underdog for a 6-2, 6-7(4), 7-5 victory on Sunday afternoon. Montanes needed two hours and 33 minutes to capture a second straight title at the 250-point clay-court tournament.
Perhaps nervous playing his first ATP final and doing so in front of hometown fans, Gil was overwhelmed in the first set. He won only half of his points on first and second serve and did not get a look at one break point in his first four return games. Two breaks were more than enough for Montanes, who served out the opening frame of play with ease at 5-2.
The defending champion appeared to be on his way to a routine straight-set victory when he broke for a 2-1 lead in the second. The crowd, however, was not about to let Gil go away without a fight. And fight he did. Serving to stay in the championship at 3-5, Gil fought off two match points and ended up holding to stay alive. Having not broken Montanes once in the entire match, Gil finally struck at the most critical of times, breaking for 5-5.
A series of wild momentum swings ensued, with Montanes righting the ship and breaking right back for 6-5. Again, however, the world No. 34 did not come close to serving it out. Gil broke serve at love and this time refused to give away the momentum in the tiebreaker. He led from start to finish, earning a mini-break for 2-0 and letting his opponent self-destruct en route to a 6-2 advantage. Montanes saved two of the set points, but an errant backhand at 4-6 ensured--to the delight of the Portuguese faithful--that a third set would be necessary to decide the champion.
More of the same continued in the third, with the two competitors trading turns to have the upper hand. Gil broke serve in the first and third games en route to a commanding 3-0, two-break lead, but having the title in sight was too much for him to handle. Montanes stole both of the breaks back before holding for 6-5. Gil saved one more match point at 15-40 in the next game, but Montanes finally finished off the back-and-forth affair.
"It feels great to defend the title, my fourth career title," said the 29-year-old Montanes. "This is a special place for me and I’m happy to have won it again. I am definitely playing the best tennis of my career."
"This was my best result so far," added Gil. "I’m really happy to have reached the final at home in Estoril. It was a great match. He is a very experienced player and he got the title."
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Congratulations to Montanes for winning and defending his title.
smr , 5/10/10 2:49 AM