THE HAGUE, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Gael Monfils has prolonged his title at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam after beating Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-2, 6-4 in the final on Sunday.
The 33-year-old Monfils cruised from 6-2 in the first set to 5-1 in the second set until he got some serious opposition from the 19-year-old Auger-Aliassime. The latter came back to 5-4 but eventually had to bow for the French world No. 9.
It was not only the second consecutive title in Rotterdam for Monfils but also his tenth ATP career tournament win, after having already triumphed in Montpellier last week.
"It was another great week for me here," Monfils said afterward to the audience. "Having won for a second consecutive time, it's clear that I like to play in Rotterdam."
Monfils equaled Jimmy Connors (1978, 1978), Stefan Edberg (1987, 1988), Richard Krajicek (1995, 1997), Nicolas Escude (2001, 2002) and Robin Soderling (2010, 2011) as two-time winners of the tournament. Arthur Ashe (1972, 1975, 1976) and Roger Federer (2005, 2012, 2018) each won three times in Rotterdam.
