ATP roundup: Paire beats defending champ Andujar for Marrakesh title

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[April 15, 2019]    Frenchman Benoit Paire beat three-time champion Spaniard Pablo Andujar 6-2, 6-3 on Sunday to win the Grand Prix Hassan II title on the clay courts at Marrakesh, Morocco.

Benoit Paire of France in action during his first round match against Japan's Kei Nishikori REUTERS/Christopher Pike

It was just the second title for 29-year-old Paire, who last lifted an ATP Tour trophy four years ago when he defeated Tommy Robredo at the 2015 Swedish Open.

Sunday's final also marked sweet revenge for Paire, who had beaten Andujar in three prior ATP meetings but lost to the 33-year-old just two weeks ago in the final of the ATP Challenger Tour event in Marbella, Spain. Paire cruised to victory in one hour and six minutes vs. the defending champ, winning 89 percent of first-serve points and not conceding a break all afternoon.

U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship

Chile's Christian Garin secured Chile's first ATP Tour title in 10 years, defeating Norway's Casper Ruud 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 in Houston.

It was Garin's second win over 20-year-old Ruud, who was playing in his first career final, after previously beating the Norwegian last month in the semifinals of the Brazil Open. Tied at 2-2 in the final set, Ruud failed to capitalize on three break-point chances. Garin broke in the next game, then serving for the title at 5-3, fired an ace to set up championship point.

Garin, 22, had a tough path to the final: He went three sets in his opening match against Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas, saved five match points to oust No. 2 seed Jeremy Chardy in the second, and defeated last year's runner-up American Sam Querrey -- a finalist the previous four years -- in the semifinals.

Monte Carlo Masters

No. 9 seed Borna Coric of Croatia beat Poland's Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 in a sloppy three-setter that featured more than 100 unforced errors on both sides in first-round action in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

The contest took two hours and 52 minutes -- though more than five hours passed between the first and last points because of rain -- with Borna notching four breaks and saving 4 of 7 break points he faced.

Other Round 1 winners were Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka, the 2014 Monte Carlo champion, who beat Frenchman Lucas Pouille 7-5, 6-3 in 1:15; Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov, who ousted Italy's Matteo Berrettini 7-5, 6-4 in 1:53; and Argentina's Guido Pella, who was pushed to three sets by Serbia's Laslo Djere before winning 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-4.

In qualifying action, six players advanced to the Round of 64: Russian Andrey Rublev, Slovenia's Aljaz Bedene, Australian Alexei Popyrin and the Argentinian trio of Juan Ignacio Londero, Federico Delbonis and Guido Andreozzi.

--Field Level Media

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