News of the day - 2010

Llodra champ of Marseille

After an unsuccessful attempt in 2009 versus Tsonga, Michael Llodra finally lifted the trophy in Marseille after a straight set win 6-3 6-4 in just over an hour.
Like last year, the final match of the Open 13 was played between two French players. Like last year, Michael Llodra was on one side of the court. Unlike last year, he faced off with Julien Benneteau who disposed of French tennis superstar Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semi-finals.
Until 3-2 Llodra in the 1st set, both servers held their own. Both players who know each other extremely well as they are doubles partners and playing the finals together. They both have a very polished first serve but Llodra has the edge as his lefty slice is lethal. He was the first to take an advantage on his opponent by breaking him to go up 4-2. With a roof over his head, Llodra is almost unbreakable. With no wind to alter his toss and no sun in his eyes, the lower ranked of the two players (79th) relied on his weapon, sat on his advantage and captured the first set 6-3.
At two games all in the 2nd, Llodra again made his move. Benneteau served and volleyed but needed to retrieve a return that landed on his laces. He managed, thanks to his doubles skills but the quality of the volley was not good enough to prevent the down the line backhand passing shot that followed. Llodra consolidated at love and quickly was up 4-2 and eight points away from the title. Serving at 4-3, "Mika" had a little trouble closing but thanks to his textbook backhand volley, the Parisian moved one game closer to the title. Benneteau held and it was up to Michael Llodra, runner-up on the very same court last year to seal the deal. After three successful serve and volley's (one of which on second serve) and an ace, Michael Llodra became the 2010 Open 13 champion.