MONTPELLIER, February 10, 2019
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won his 17th ATP Tour career title at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier. The 33-year-old Frenchman, who entered the main draw with a wild card, beat countryman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 6-2 in Sunday’s singles title match.
Tsonga didn’t face a break point and capitalized on three of his own four chances to secure victory in one hour and 13 minutes. This is Tsonga’s first ATP Tour title since Antwerp in October 2017. The World No. 210 celebrated his first triumph at Montpellier after losing in semi-finals to eventual champions in all three prior appearances (2010, 2017-18). Tsonga has become the lowest-ranked titlist since Pablo Andujar lifted the Grand Prix Hassan II trophy in Marrakech 10 months ago.
BACK AS A WINNER 🙌🇫🇷@tsonga7 beats Herbert 6-4 6-2 to claim his first title since October 2017 at the @OpenSuddeFrance, his 17th overall! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Z1lNLkfRYC
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 10. Februar 2019
“I am very happy with the way I played this week,” said Tsonga, who receives 250 ATP Ranking points and collects €90,390 in prize money . “It was an amazing moment for me to win here in Montpellier… I have made many efforts to come back [here], so for me it is a good reward and I hope I will be able to continue playing at this level.”
Seventh seeded Herbert, competing in his third ATP Tour singles final, was aiming to lift his first singles trophy.
“It was a tough match against Jo,” said Herbert. “I knew it was going to be a hard match and he was all over me for the whole final. He was just the better player today. I am happy about my week, I played five matches at a high level and I am looking forward to the rest of season. [I will] try to keep up the good work.”
First team title for Dodig and Roger-Vasselin
Earlier in the day, top seeds Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin captured their maiden team title, defeating the all-French combination of Benjamin Bonzi and Antoine Hoang 6-4, 6-3 in the doubles final. The encounter lasted one hour and nine minutes.
“I am very happy about this first title together. It is only our third tournament,” said Roger-Vasselin. “It was a tough week. It was a great week. In the final, I think we played our best match. It is our first title and hopefully it will not be our only one.”
