WOW. Dolgopolov, Cilic, Monfils, now Del Potro??? It's a one-man wrecking ball!!! Marcel Granollers...who the hell is that???

I didn't know anything about him before, but watching him beat Delpo was impressive. This guy's got game! Look at who he beat to get to the final. I saw some of the Ferrer/Monaco semifinal. Ferrer was up a break in that third set, but had some double faults and then two questionable calls that could not be challenged. Monaco broke back and Ferrer seemed to lose the plot after that. I didn't expect to see Ferrer lose here of all places.

I think that Granollers seems to be feeling it right now and with the hometown fans behind him, I think he will get the win. It's a nice thing to see this guy step out of the shadows of his more famous Spanish players.

Didn't you watch last year's Valencia final? He's the finalist last year, lost to Ferrer. Also he used to trouble Sod, at Wimbledon and at the AO, though not beating Sod, he got a set from him. The guy also won a clay title this year at Gstaad, beating Almagro in the final. He can play on all surfaces and mix things up nicely with his good net game. He's same age as Rafa, and a fellow teammate of the winning junior Davis Cup team with young Rafa.

Why is it Spain & France have so much success in tennis. Spain has 22 players in the top 200; France 21.

Hope Granoller goes on to greater things.

Yes congrats to Granollers, a ATP 500 title at last! What a week for him, beating so many good players along the way to this title. Commies to Monaco, he'll have his chances on clay come next year.

Yes! Good for Granollers! Monaco has much better hair any way, so must be some consolation....

Lol deuce.
I'm disappointed, i hoped for a Pico win.

luckystar - AT LAST????

Granollers should never win a 500-point title

Where's the sportsmanship Ricky?

Ricky, why??

Just because Ferrer or Cilic or Monfils or Delpo couldn't win it? Well Monfils and Cilic should have won a 500 event by now, it's their own fault for not winning one and allowing Granollers to win one here. Well done to Granollers. He's certainly an interesting player to watch, with his kind of game. With this win, he'll move into top 30, I hope he continues in his rankings surge.

Nice to see Monaco playing some aggressive hard court tennis as well. He's standing close to baseline and moved inside the court more often than not, and moved towards the net to attack too. IMO, he played some of his best hard court tennis this tournament, like he did at Shanghai last year. I hope he'll have some future successes on the hard courts.

Keep wondering what happened to Verdi's January 2009 form. Like Nole, the DC win rejuvenated his game but unfortunately unlike Nole it didn't last as long.

ed, Verdasco seems to be losing interest in tennis. I was particularly disappointed with him at the Rome tournament this year, in his match against Sod. He was playing so well, won the first set, serving for the match in the second and he managed to double fault the set away and he ended up losing to Sod! Most frustrating thing was, Sod then lost to Nole in the next match, having to swallow a bagel from Nole.

Verdasco clearly has the game, but he does not have the heart. In the past he doesn't have the head and the heart; after the DC 2008 final, he managed to find both, briefly in 2009. He was still OK in 2010, reaching the final at MC but lost embarrasingly to Rafa in the final. His 'decline' seemed to begin after the DC tie against France last year and went into full effect this year. When the heart is not there, the head is also not there. The embarrasing losses to Raonic this year don't help matters either.

It's a pity, for when his game, head and heart are in order, his game can be awesome. I think he'll lose to Cilic at Paris today.

I don't see Verdasco getting his January 2009 form back. He has never been able to duplicate the stellar tennis he played in that semifinal with Rafa. He played him tougher than Fed did in the final and that's saying a lot. He always had the game and was able to stay well up in the rankings, but he is in freefall right now. Maybe the desire is gone.

Sometimes you play just for pride and when even that is gone, that there's nothing left. It's interesting to see him decline as Ferrer is playing some of his best tennis this year and is now #5 in the world. I think he is 29 now, so it's nice to see him able to play quality tennis. Of course, I have to believe that his loss to Monaco in the semis at Valencia was just a blip on the radar. Also, Monaco to his credit, did play well. But up a break in that third set, I thought Ferrer had the match. He uncharacteristically lost his concentration over a few questionable calls and wasn't able to get it back together. But it still can't take away from a great year for him.

I don't know if Verdasco can get it back. Time will tell.

don't take my response out of context

I was responding to luckystar's comment that Granollers "AT LAST" won a 500-point tournament.

Nobody was WAITING for Granollers to win a 500-point tournament. Nobody expected Granollers to EVER win a 500-point tournament. Granollers' talent is such that he should NEVER win a 500-point tournament.

So saying he "AT LAST" won a 500-point tournament makes absolutely no sense.

Well Ricky, you're also taking my comment out of context. When I said at last, that's because he reached the final at Valencia last year, so at last he won it now, and Valencia happened to be a 500 event. Had he not reached the final last year, I won't mention the words 'at last'.

Anyway, he did prove his worth by reaching the final in two consecutive years and winning one. Also the players he beat along the way are some worthy ones. What he needs to do now is to maintain this level of play consistently. His ranking has jumped from the 50s to the 20s now, let's see if he can sustain or even improve his ranking any further.

Lukasz Kubot is 0-2 lifetime in ATP finals

if he ever wins one, I don't think anyone is going to say that AT LAST Lukasz Kubot has won an ATP title. LOL.

It strikes me that Verdasco has never committed 100% to the job. I suspect he is too easily distracted by the life-style as was Safin. Recently he has looked sulky and let his temper show on court although he was better in his match against (a tired) Cilic today.

That lapse by Ferrer was unusual, as you say. He wouldn't normally let something like that get to him but quite a few players are showing signs of end-of-year stress and fatigue.

Kubot? The one who gets only three games each time be played Nole?

Ricky, Granollers has more talent than Kubot. He may not be of top ten material but he can win some titles, and I do expect him to win more in future, can't say the same for player like Kubot.

I have a feeling we could see some upsets in Paris, if only because some players are looking just plain worn out. It may be catching up to Ferrer. I hope he doesn't kill himself here, because London is coming up next.

Kubot was an example

Didn't Granollers beat Soderling at the US Open? I know a guy from Valencia who played juniors with Granollers and he says he can't believe it happened - the reason being something along the lines that Ricky meant when he said "Granollers should never win a 500-point title". But I've never actually seen him play, so no idea.

Not the USO but the AO 2010 first round. He beat Sod in five sets. He also played a tight four sets match against Sod at Wimbledon in 2009 second round. The problem with this guy is that he's inconsistent. Just this year alone, he's been losing early in almost every tournament he played. He seems to like Valencia, last year he played through qualifying rounds and managed to reach the final and lost to Ferrer. His game is rather interesting with all the net rushing, hopefully with this win, he'll be inspired to do better, unlike that Golubev guy (who won Hamburg last year and then started losing in first rounds of almost every tournament he played).

almost forgot about Golubev

that title may have been even more ridiculous simply because it came on clay.... Then again, Granollers on an INDOOR HARD court....