Monday 23 February 2015 09:35, UK
Gilles Simon claimed his second Open 13 title with victory over fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils in the final in Marseille.
Simon, who also won the title in 2007, came out on top 6-4 1-6 7-6 in an tense and attritional final that lasted two-and-a-half hours.
The 30-year-old was winning for the 12th time on the ATP Tour and continued a fine run of form, which also included a semi-final appearance in the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
I'm happy I won here since I won my first tournament in Marseille. I hope it won't be the last one.
Simon withstood 11 aces from Monfils and five breaks of serve before he proved the strongest in the deciding tie-break.
But 54 unforced errors from Monfils showed his struggles when the pressure is on have not disappeared - he has now lost 17 of the 22 finals he has contested.
"It was a great week, but a tough one physically," said Simon.
"I left a lot of energy against (Borna) Coric (in the second round) and then it was hard to recover from this one. I'm happy I won here since I won my first tournament in Marseille. I hope it won't be the last one."
Monfils added: "I'm disappointed. It was a great match and we both played really well."
