Juan Monaco wins VTR Open tennis in Viña del Mar

VIÑA DEL MAR –  Juan Monaco won the VTR Open in Viña del Mar. The Player from Argentina triumphed for the 4th time and stopped his drought of titles and victories in the finals. With a big smile he endet up the last match against first time finalist Carlos Berlocq. Berlocq was one of the many players from Argentina competing in the tournament.

Juan Monaco won the VTR Tennis Open in Viña del Mar. Photo: Cinewatt via WikiCommons

Monaco, who seemed very relieved, won the final with 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-1. But almost everyone will be happy for the 27- year old, who had lost his last 7 finals and had not won a title since 2007. He fought hard, wanted the victory and got it.

The final wasn’t so easy for the top seed Monaco. The first set was perfect, but during the second set he had his problems, got nervous and made mistakes. But after all he became better and better, so that it was only fair that he won the tournament. Carlos Berlocq, who won the semi finals against another Argentinian Juan Ignacio Chela, also wanted the victory and made a good match. He was calm and seemed to enjoy the match, although his efforts weren’t enough to win. But it must gave him a good feeling to play in this level.

But Monaco finally wasn’t no longer only the second, the one that always looses the finals. This time he had the nerves, stayed calm and played technically. He earned the victory and that was what the audience seemed to respect. Monaco won three ATP tournaments in 2007, but it has been a long journey to his return to the top of the podium.

The tournament started on Monday the 30th and finished yesterday, Sunday February 5th. Tennis fans and those that maybe want to become one, found what they were looking for: a nice tournament in a great place in Chile. Unfortunately for Chilean tennis fans, Nicolas Massú lost in the first round and Fernando Gonzalez followed in the next round. Despite the early loss, Gonzalez has risen in the ATP rankings.

The tournament in Viña del Mar was the start of a month long tour through Latin America, known as the “Latin American Swing”. All of the events will be played on clay. The next stops will be Brazil, Argentina and Mexico.