Berdych claims Open Sud de France title

Tomas Berdych won his seventh career title by defeating defending champion Gael Monfils 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in the Open Sud de France final on Sunday. The top-seeded Czech broke for a 5-3 lead in the final set on a double fault from Monfils, clinching victory with his 12th ace. ''It was very close in the end. I'm happy that I was able to do it,'' Berdych told Canal Plus television. ''Actually, it's even more special to beat the home player, unfortunately for the crowd.'' Berdych relied on a strong serve and deep groundstrokes to go a set up but made several unforced errors to drop the second set. ''Tomas had a great match,'' Monfils said. ''He got off to a good start, so I had less maneuvering room. I tried my best. I tried to return better, I tried to play with a bit more aggression too.'' The 2010 Wimbledon finalist broke Monfils for a 2-0 lead when the Frenchman sent a backhand long. Berdych then saved three break points to hold serve before hitting two consecutive return winners to take the first set. In the second set, Berdych double-faulted to give Monfils a break chance that the Frenchman converted for a 3-2 lead when the Czech's backhand volley sailed long. Monfils erased three break points at 4-3 and leveled at one set each on a forehand error from Berdych. Berdych had won their only previous meeting four years ago in Dubai.