Arnaud Clement was delighted to see off Fernando
Gonzalez in the final of the Open de Moselle on Sunday.
The Frenchman was given a tough battle by Chilean Gonzalez but held firm to
win 6-3 1-6 6-3.
It was the second career ATP title for fourth seed Clement whose previous
success also came on French soul at Lyon although his appearance in the
Australian Open in 2001 is probably his outstanding career performance.
He is the second Frenchman to win an ATP crown this year following Julien
Boutter's success in Casablanca.
Boutter, who hails from Metz, could not participate in this tournament with a
shoulder injury but instead helped the organisers.
Clement said: "It's fantastic. Lyon 2000 was really a distant memory and it
feels great to win my second title in France again.
"I had lost a few finals after Lyon and it would have hurt a lot to lose
here.
"It's not just about this week's efforts, it's all the hard work I've put in
with my coach of two years, Remi Barbarin.
"I expected such a match today against Fernando. He hits the ball very hard
and has a big serve."
Third seed Gonzalez said: "Unfortunately that's the way tennis goes. Just a
couple of points decided the match, it was the two points I lost to go 15-40
down on my serve in the final set when he broke me, a let-cord and I missed a
forehand.
"I know Arnaud well, he's a great player and he played well today. I was not
surprised by his tactics today."
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