Petzschner beats Monfils to win BA Tennis Trophy
VIENNA, Austria -- German qualifier and world No. 125 Philipp Petzschner completed a remarkable week's tennis on Sunday when he beat French eighth seed Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-4 in the BA Tennis Trophy final.
Petzschner, 24, put in a disciplined performance as former junior world No. 1 Monfils blew his temper and his chances of ending a four-year wait for his second ATP title.
"I don't think I have any feelings left," said Petzschner after his victory in an event at which he only originally planned to play doubles.
"It was always my long term-aim to break into the top 100," he added when asked about an anticipated rise of around 50 places in Monday's rankings. "To do it like this is just incredible. I feel like my arm has gained about two kilos."
Monfils, the French world No. 28, allowed himself to get distracted by some adverse line calls after double faulting in the fifth game of the match.
Continuing to argue with umpire Fergus Murphy over the first service call, Monfils told the Irishman he would "bet my car" the ball was in. Visibly rattled, he dropped his serve a few points later.
The 22-year-old steadied his nerves and rediscovered his trademark athleticism to break back to 4-4 but the recovery proved short-lived.
Two unforced errors either side of a forehand winner from his German opponent saw Monfils fall behind once again, with Petzschner serving out to love to clinch the first set.
Petzschner then dominated the second set. Never troubled on his own serve, he took Monfils to three break points -- successfully converting the last of them to take a 5-4 lead before again serving out comfortably for his first ATP title.
The German, who had never made it past the quarterfinals of an ATP tournament before arriving in Vienna, defeated top seed Stanislas Wawrinka, former world No. 1 Carlos Moya and 2004 Vienna Open champion Feliciano Lopez on his way to Sunday's final.
