Youzhny & Monaco end long droughts with wins in Zagreb and Vina del Mar.

Third seed Mikhail Youzhny ended his 16-month ATP title drought with a straight-sets victory over unseeded Slovakian Lukas Lacko in the PBZ Zagreb Indoors final. The Russian was always in control against world number 97 Lacko, who was competing in his first Tour final. Youzhny did not face a break point throughout, won 75 per cent of points on his serve and broke his opponent’s serve three times en route to a 6-2 6-3 triumph. The victory marked the world number 39’s first tournament win since he prevailed in Kuala Lumpur in 2010.

Top seed Juan Monaco won his first title in five years with victory at the VTR Open in Vina del Mar. The Argentinian beat his less experienced compatriot Carlos Berlocq 6-3 6-7 (1) 6-1 to finally get his hands on a trophy after seven finals appearances since his last win. “I’m very happy to be champion again,” he told the ATP’s official website. “I lost the last seven finals, so this is a very special moment for me. “I’m very happy because I fought a lot, I practised a lot and I was thinking a lot about winning a tournament again. It gives me confidence and motivation.”

Argentina are almost perfect at home.

The last time Argentina played at home was in 2009 first round victory against Netherlands. Since returning to the World Group, in 2002, Argentina has never lost in the first round and has an 11-1 record as the home team. Their only loss came in the 2008 Davis Cup Final, against Spain, in Mar del Plata, also the only time Argentina played outside Buenos Aires.

The full draw is listed below.

Friday

R1: David Nalbandian (ARG) v Adrian Ungur (ROU)

R2: Juan Monaco (ARG) v Victor Hanescu (ROU)

Saturday

R3: Juan Ignacio Chela/Eduardo Schwank (ARG) v Victor Hanescu/Horia Tecau (ROU)

Sunday

R4: David Nalbandian (ARG) v Victor Hanescu (ROU)

R5: Juan Monaco (ARG) v Adrian Ungur (ROU)

Juan Monaco outplays defending ‘chump’ Andy Murray.

Defending champion Andy Murray suffered a shock defeat by Argentine Juan Monaco in the second round of the Valencia Open on Wednesday.

Britain’s Murray, the number one seed, was outplayed and a second-set revival failed to spark him into life.

The Scot was beaten in three sets by his opponent, losing 6-2 3-6 6-2.

Elsewhere, number eight seed Gael Monfils booked his place in the second round in Spain with a 6-3 6-3 victory over Argentine Eduardo Schwank.

Robredo retires, Monaco loses, Soderling struggles to win.

Robin Soderling booked his place in the third round of the Barcelona Open with a straight sets win over Juan Ignacio Chela.

The 25-year-old Swede won through 7-5 7-5 although the match was not all smooth sailing as he had to deny Chela from serving out the second set.

Local hopeful Nicolas Almagro joined Soderling in the last 16 as he beat Simon Greul for the second time in a week.

Almagro, the 15th seed, battled past the German at the Monte Carlo Masters last week but enjoyed an easier afternoon in front of his home fans to win 6-1 6-3.

Lucky loser Ivan Navarro made full use of his second chance to beat Pablo Cuevas 6-2 6-4. The Spaniard was drafted into the main draw after sixth seed Tomas Berdych’s withdrawal due to an ankle injury.

In first round action, former world number one Lleyton Hewitt continued his return from hip surgery to beat qualifier Marsel Ilhan 6-4 4-6 6-2 in just under two hours.

Twelfth seed Hewitt underwent surgery straight after the Australian Open in January and reached the quarter-finals in his first tournament back at Houston last week.

Other seeds to progress were Jurgen Melzer (11) who beat veteran Nicolas Lapentti 6-3 6-3 while Feliciano Lopez (16) was 6-3 3-0 ahead when his Ukrainian rival Oleksandr Dolgopolov jnr retired.

Three seeds were eliminated from the draw today with Tommy Robredo (nine), Juan Monaco (10) and Barcelona resident Albert Montanes suffering surprise defeats.

Robredo was trailing 6-7 (9/7) 6-4 3-1 when he retired from his match with Simone Bolelli while Monaco was beaten by Spanish qualifier Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-2 3-6 6-2.

Montanes showed little fight in his 6-3 7-6 (7/1) defeat to world 46 Jeremy Chardy, although the home fans did have some reason to cheer when Barcelona-born Albert Martin beat Mikhail Kukushkin 7-5 6-4.

Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis fired 11 aces as he beat Peter Luczak 7-6 (7/4) 6-3 while clay-court specialist Victor Hanescu breezed past Andreas Beck 6-1 6-2.

France’s Stephane Robert and Sergiy Stakhovsky were three-set winners against Denis Istomin and Mischa Zverev respectively.

Verdasco is ousted by Juan Monaco in Acapulco.

Juan Monaco claimed a straight sets win over top seed Fernando Verdasco to reach the semi-finals of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel tournament in Acapulco.

Seventh seed Monaco continued his impressive form during the Latin American clay-court season to overcome Verdasco 7-5 6-3.

Monaco, the world number 30, reached the final in Santiago at the start of the month before reaching the semi-finals in Buenos Aires, where he lost to eventual champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, last week.

The Argentinian will get his chance of revenge against Ferrero in the last four after the 30-year-old former world number one eliminated two-time defending champion Nicolas Almagro 6-1 5-7 6-2.

Second seed Fernando Gonzalez avoided an upset when he battled back from a set down against Argentinian qualifier Eduardo Schwank 3-6 6-3 7-5 in a match that lasted two hours and 13 minutes.

The Chilean will next play third seed David Ferrer who reached his third consecutive semi-final with a comfortable 7-5 6-4 victory over Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas.

Ferrer broke his opponent four times and did not give up a break on his own service.

Pay back time in Stockholm.

Ernests Gulbis and Juan Monaco are both on court today at the Sweden Open in Stockholm. So what? Neither player is fighting for a season ending ranking improvement or a place in the Barclays London finals, and neither of them have much to lose or gain by winning or losing. Gulbis is playing Feliciano Lopez, and Monaco is playing the young local hero Joachim Johansson.

It is this same Johansson who is reportedly to have blown the whistle on both Gulbis and Monaco for their procurement of prostitutes for sex. A minor charge in sexually liberated Sweden, where the prostitutes get off free while the ‘John’ pays a fine. It’s more of an embarrassment than anything else, but both of the accused are single, probably horny, and looking to have a little fun away from home in exotic Sweden. No harm done!

There is an unwritten code among the players of the ATP, sorta like a club or gang, where each looks out for the other, and as professionals in the same sport it is unthinkable that some upstart would point the finger at a fellow player.

The ‘match of the day’ is the final match on centre court between Juan Monaco and Joachim ‘Pimp-Pimp’ Johansson, and it will be interesting to witness how Monaco responds when facing his accuser. I just hope he beats the crap out of him!

Montanes wins 2009 Bucharest Open.

Albert Montanes won his second ATP World Tour title of the season after edging third seed Juan Monaco 7-6(2), 7-6(6) Sunday in the final of the BCR Open Romania, an ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tennis tournament in Bucharest.

Montanes is the third Spanish played this season, together with Rafael Nadal (five titles) and Tommy Robredo (two titles), to win at least two ATP World Tour titles. He received 250 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points and €71,700, while runner-up Monaco earned 150 Ranking points and €37,700 in prize money.

Barcelona-resident Montanes is the first Spaniard to win the BCR Open Romania title since David Sanchez lifted the trophy in 2003. Montanes himself had nearly claimed the title two years earlier, when he finished runner-up to Younes El Aynaoui on his tournament debut.

Soderling wins Swedish Open!

Second seed Robin Soderling overcame Juan Monaco in straight sets to win the Catella Swedish Open in Bastad this afternoon.

The 24-year-old French Open finalist triumphed 6-3 7-6 (7/4) over the unseeded Argentinian to claim his first claycourt title and become the first Swedish winner in Bastad since his coach Magnus Norman in 2000.

Soderling’s victory was his fourth in succession against Monaco and improves his head-to-head record to 4-1. Their previous meeting also came in Sweden, with Soderling prevailing in Stockholm last year.

Soderling v. Monaco in Sunday’s final.

Robin Soderling won the battle of the Swedes against Andreas Vinciguerra to reach the final of the Catella Swedish Open in Bastad on Saturday.

The French Open finalist, who will face Argentina’s Juan Monaco in Sunday’s showpiece, met strong resistance from the wild card in the second set before coming through 6-1 7-6 (8/6).

Monaco reached his second ATP Tour final of the season with a stunning 6-0 6-2 victory over defending champion Tommy Robredo.

In beating the third seed, Monaco ensured there would be a non-Spanish winner of the clay-court event for the first time in five years.

Second seed Soderling and Monaco have met four times before, with the Swede winning the last three. Their last match also came in Sweden, with Soderling triumphing in Stockholm last year.

Add Verdasco to Spain’s injury list.

Top seed Fernando Verdasco limped out of the Catella Swedish Open quarter-finals on Friday but defending champion Tommy Robredo made it safely through to the last four.

Verdasco, the world number nine, pulled a calf muscle in the first game of his match against Juan Monaco and although he attempted to soldier on, the Spaniard was 1-6 1-3 down when he called it a day after 55 minutes.

“I had real pain when serving, especially since the injury was in my my right leg,” said Verdasco.

“It was not easy for me – I tried to continue playing but when I saw that I had no chance to win I retired before injuring myself further.”

Monaco will now face Robredo, who claimed the title in Bastad last year and in 2006.

The third seed needed 77 minutes to see off Georgia’s Teimuraz Gabashvili 6-4 6-0 and is on course for a third claycourt title of 2009.

In the other half of the draw, French Open finalist Robin Soderling thrilled his home crowd by edging a tight match against another Spaniard, Nicolas Almagro.

The world number 12 was given a tough workout but crucially claimed three breaks to one to win 7-5 6-3.

It was later confirmed that a Swede would compete in the final when wildcard entrant Andreas Vinciguerra, ranked 460 in the world, stunned fourth seed Jurgen Melzer 2-6 6-4 6-3 to set up a clash with Soderling.

Vinciguerra, whose ranking peaked at 33 in 2001, has twice reached the final at Bastad but the last occasion was in 2000. His only ATP Tour tournament victory came on the hard courts of Copenhagen in the same year.