Frenchman Michael Llodra defeated comeback boy Robin Soderling of Sweden in a three-set thriller to win the 824,000-euro ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on Sunday.
This was the second ATP title of the season for 58th-ranked Llodra, who also won in Adelaide, Australia in January. Only world No. 10 Andy Murray of Britain matched his performance this season.
It took Llodra 2 hours and eight minutes to beat 59th-ranked Soderling, who is on a comeback after being sidelined for six months by a left wrist injury. Llodra won 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (4).
It has been a dream week for Llodra, who is also good at doubles winning the Wimbledon doubles title last year and reaching the Australian Open doubles final last January.
Soderling, who was in only his second tournament after his comeback last week, was playing in his sixth ATP final. He had won two titles in his career, the last one in Milan in 2005.
All the 8 seeds, including world No. 2 Rafael Nadal and four other Top 10 players, had failed to reach the quarter-finals of the Dutch hard court tournament, which was in its 35th edition.
(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2008)