Tomas Berdych won his seventh career ATP title by defeating defending champion Gael Monfils 6-2 4-6 6-3 in the Open Sud de France final on Sunday.
The top-seeded Czech broke for a 5-3 lead in the final set on a double fault from Monfils, clinching victory with his 12th ace.
“It was very close in the end. I’m happy that I was able to do it,” Berdych told Canal Plus television. “Actually, it’s even more special to beat the home player, unfortunately for the crowd.”
Berdych relied on a strong serve and deep groundstrokes to go a set up but made several unforced errors to drop the second set.
“Tomas had a great match,” Monfils said. “He got off to a good start, so I had less manoeuvering room. I tried my best. I tried to return better, I tried to play with a bit more aggression too.”
The 2010 Wimbledon finalist broke Monfils for a 2-0 lead when the Frenchman sent a backhand long. Berdych then saved three break points to hold serve before hitting two consecutive return winners to take the first set.
In the second set, Berdych double-faulted to give Monfils a break chance that the Frenchman converted for a 3-2 lead when the Czech’s backhand volley sailed long.
Monfils erased three break points at 4-3 and levelled at one set each on a forehand error from Berdych.
Berdych had won their only previous meeting four years ago in Dubai.