Roddick Wins Atlanta Title as Monaco Reaches Top Ten

By Erik Gudris

(July 21st, 2012) Andy Roddick was the prohibitive favorite in the finals of the BB&T Atlanta Open against Gilles Muller. But an early bad start from Roddick prompted by a shoulder issue seemed to tip things in favor of the Luxembourg native who was seeking his first career ATP title.

Roddick, dealing with a shoulder problem, tossed in two double faults in his opening service game to give Muller an early 2-0 lead. Aggressive net play from Muller allowed him to open up his lead and with another break of serve, Muller easily took the first set 6-1.

After receiving treatment for his shoulder issue, Roddick came out firing in the second set and didn't face a break point on his serve. Roddick found himself at 0-40 on Muller's service game at 5-4 but was unable to convert on four set points. Muller eventually forced a tiebreak, but a pair of forehand errors from Muller allowed Roddick to sneak out the second set tiebreak.

From there, Muller lost confidence while Roddick with help of the partisan crowd seemed to gain his as Roddick hit a backhand passing shot to break Muller early in the third set. Another error from Muller gave Roddick a double break 4-1 lead and though Muller hit his 20th ace to force Roddick to serve out the match down 2-5, it was a mere formality as Roddick in the next game clinched a 1-6, 7-6, 6-2 victory to earn his second title of the year.

Atlanta marks where Roddick won his first and now 32nd career ATP title. Roddick reflected that the achievement was a "tennis lifetime."

Monaco Reaches Career Milestone in Hamburg

Argentina's Juan Monaco put another exclamation mark on his career best 2012 season with another title, this time at the bet-at-home Open German Tennis Championships 2012 in Hamburg.

Taking on Hamburg's own Tommy Haas in today's final, Monaco fell behind 1-4 early in the first set before rallying to win it 7-5. Haas jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second set before Monaco broke back to eventually level things at 2-all.

With a healthy percentage of winning 71% of his second serve return points, Monaco was able to break Haas one last time to allow him to close out a 7-5, 6-4 victory to seal the biggest title of his career

Hamburg is the first ATP 500 title for Monaco and with that result he will enter the top ten for the first time on Monday.

"It's a dream come true," said Monaco to ATP.com. "I will always remember this great week because it's very important for me and my team. It was a big goal we had pre-season when we were practicing very hard."

Bellucci Overcomes Nerves To Win Second Gstaad Title

Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci overcame his own nerves and a roller coaster first set to eventually take his second title in Gstaad at the Credit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad.

Taking on top seed Janko Tipsarevic in the finals, it was the Serbian who jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the first set only to see Bellucci climb back to 4-all. The set climaxed into a tiebreak that had Bellucci go up 6-1 only to have his nerves get the better of him including him hitting a double fault straight into the other service box.

Tipsarevic took advantage of Bellucci's nerves as he came back to take the tiebreak. But Bellucci recovered to take the second and third sets to clinch a 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-2 win. It's Bellucci's second title at the event having won before in 2009.

(Photo Credit: AP/John Bazemore)

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