Croatia's Ljubicic Wins Tourney in France
Sunday, October 9, 2005
METZ, France
Third-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia beat sixth-seeded Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (7), 6-0 to win the Open de Moselle on Sunday. Ljubicic won his first final of the year after losing his previous four — three to Roger Federer at Doha, Rotterdam and Dubai, and one to Joachim Johansson at Marseille. The 19-year-old Monfils missed the chance to clinch his second title of the year after winning on clay in Sopot, Poland. The pair had never previously met on the ATP Tour, and Ljubicic's win improved him to 42-18 overall this season.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/10/09/sports/s075159D17.DTL
Ljubicic ends four-year title drought in Metz
Sun Oct 9, 2005 3:41 PM BST
METZ, France, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic beat local favourite Gael Monfils 7-6 6-0 in the Metz Open final on Sunday to clinch his first ATP title in four years.
The towering Ljubicic, whose last tour success came in Lyon in 2001, stepped up a gear after a tight first set, relying on his trademark booming serves to take control.
The 19-year-old Monfils, the former junior number one, failed to claim the second title of his career after winning in August in Sopot, Poland.
The powerful Frenchman held his nerve at first but collapsed after losing the first set in a tie break.
Ljubicic, who will be one of Croatia's trump cards in their Davis Cup final against Slovakia in December, was playing his fifth final of the season.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=tennisNews&storyID=URI:urn:newsml:reuters.com:20051009:MTFH13890_2005-10-09_14-41-34_L09270724:1
