Berdych Powers Past Monfils En Route To Montpelier Title
By Erik Gudris Photo Credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
(February 5th, 2012) It’s rather surprising that Tomas Berdych and Gael Monfils have only met once in their careers way back in 2008 at Dubai prior to their meeting in the finals today of the Open Sud de France in Montpelier. For two men with such different playing styles and personalities, you would expect an exciting encounter and at moments throughout their over two-hour match they didn’t disappoint, though it wasn’t as satisfying to watch as the scoreline indicates.
Berdych came out firing in the first set as he bombed heavy serves while his sledgehammer of a forehand forced Monfils to scamper around the end of the hot pink backcourt that when matched against the powder blue court looked more like an invitation for a baby shower than the floor of a sports arena. After Berdych broke Monfils early, it was all the defending champion could do to keep himself from being blown out completely in the first set which Berdych took 6-2.
If Monfils had any hope of making this a contest, he would have to get his body past the words Languedoc-Roussillon painted in white letters on the backcourt which he managed to do by employing his crafty backcourt style of keeping the ball in play until an opening presented itself. With Berdych serving at 2-all, 30-all, it did as Monfils won a cat and mouse rally up at net.
Berdych saved that break point with his tried and true formula of hitting a big serve to set up a bigger forehand winner. But a double fault followed by another Berdych volley error gave Monfils the break while the French crowd on hand looked relieved that they had an actual match on their hands.
Monfils loosened up a bit, even throwing in a skyhook winner on his way to holding for 5-3, but this was a measured performance from the Frenchman, who was content to bide his time in the rallies rather than go for the flashy winner. Berdych, growing more frustrated that he wasn’t able to bludgeon his way out of this one, barely held on to his serve in the next game, while Monfils served out the set to love. The crowd was excited that the momentum was with the local favorite, but Monfils didn’t show any emotion as he walked to his chair.
The third set turned into a serving contest with each man holding rather easily. But even though Monfils was in the lead, it felt like a tenuous one as he continued to wait for his opportunities rather than applying pressure to Berdych. Monfils hit his first drop shot of the match and, after chasing down a high backhand drop volley from the Czech for a winner, it felt like maybe Monfils would use his flair to fuel himself to victory.
But the subdued Monfils returned while Berdych continued relying on his power to stay in the hunt. At 4-all, with no clear plan as to how to break Berdych, Monfils was the first to blink as he dropped serve on a double fault. Serving for it at 5-3, Berdych himself wobbled going down 0-30. The crowd tried to rally Monfils but then Berdych, as he had done all match, went back to what he does best – hitting big serves to set up his forehand.
At match point, Berdych closed it out with an ace, marking a triumphant if not anticlimactic 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory. The crowd gave Berdych polite applause for his seventh career title win out of respect for his tried and true methods. But it’s likely they and Monfils were hoping for a flashier ending to their Sunday afternoon.