"I'm super happy. It's been an amazing week for me"
Monday 17 February 2020 10:30, UK
Gael Monfils won his second title in the space of eight days on Sunday as he swatted aside Canadian teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-2 6-4 in a lopsided Rotterdam Open final to retain the trophy.
The 33-year-old Frenchman, who came into the tournament on the back of a record-equalling third triumph in Montpellier the previous Sunday, converted four out of 11 break points as he denied his 19-year-old opponent a maiden ATP title.
"You're young, you'll improve fast and you'll win this tournament and other tournaments, so keep going," Monfils told Auger-Aliassime.
"I'm super happy. It's been an amazing week for me."
It was a 10th career title for world No 9 Monfils, who improved his win-loss record in the tournament to 14-1 with his only defeat coming to Slovakia's Martin Klizan in the final four years ago.
It was a disappointing day for Auger-Aliassime, who had made history by becoming the youngest finalist in the event, dropping only one set en route to the title clash.
He made 12 unforced forehand errors as Monfils broke early to race to a 4-2 lead before easing through the opening set.
Monfils overcame a minor blip when he was broken while ahead 5-2 in the second, but Auger-Aliassime was unable to stage a late comeback and force a decider as the Frenchman held firm to seal the contest on his fifth championship point.
Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France clinched the doubles title with a 6-7 6-4 (10-7) win over Finland's Henri Kontinen and Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany.
Elsewhere, Casper Ruud put Portugal's Pedro Sousa on the defence early and became the first Norwegian to win an ATP Tour title at the Argentina Open.
Ruud appeared on his way to an easy victory with his first-set domination but Sousa made it a lot tougher in the second before falling 6-1 6-4.
The win is expected to propel the 45th-ranked Ruud to world No 34 on Monday, the highest ranking ever by a Norwegian.
In doing so, Ruud will surpass his father and now coach Christian Ruud who was a former player on the tour and previous highest ranked Norwegian (39).
The eighth seed won all nine of his service games without facing a break point, He broke three times and won 43 per cent of his return points.
Ruud broke in his first return game as Sousa, who had his left leg heavily wrapped, was wide on a cross-court forehand.
The 21-year-old claimed the set on a Sousa forehand down the middle long.
The second set was much closer as crowd favourite Sousa pulled within 4-5 before Ruud wrapped up the match on a forehand from well off the court by the Portuguese.
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