Hamburg, Germany (Sports Network) - Juan Monaco of Argentina knocked off crowd
favorite Tommy Haas to capture the German Tennis Championships.
The third-seeded Monaco posted a 7-5, 6-4 victory Sunday on the red clay for
his third title of 2012 and the sixth of his career. He also won this year on
clay at Houston and Vina del Mar and the three titles this year match the
three he won in 2007.
All six of Monaco's titles have come on clay and he is expected to break into
the top 10 when the new rankings are released Monday. He improved to 6-9 all-
time in ATP finals, including 3-1 this year. His lone title match loss came
last week in Stuttgart against Janko Tipsarevic.
Haas fell to 13-10 in finals, including 1-1 this year. He won the Wimbledon
tuneup in Halle a few weeks ago, beating Roger Federer in the final.
The 34-year-old Hamburg native has never won his home tournament. His best
previous result was a semifinal appearance in his first visit back in 1997.
Monaco broke serve five times and became the first Argentine to win the
Hamburg crown since Guillermo Coria in 2003. He also improved to 4-1 lifetime
against Haas and collected a first prize of $265,000.
The Sports Network