Grand Prix Hassan II: Singles Championship

Juan Carlos Ferrero finally won his first title since 2003 and overcame his almost six-year title drought. The win gives Ferrero his 12th ATP title and moves him into the ATP top 100. The Spaniard bested Frenchmen Florent Serra 6-4 7-5 to capture the Casablanca title. This win was also Ferrero’s first win over Serra, who had a 2-0 record over the Spaniard.

There were 10 service breaks in the entire match, so it was a race to see which player could break and hold serve consecutively. Ferrero broke Serra in the first game of the match, and Serra broke back immediately. After a series of breaks, Ferrero turned up the heat in the tenth game and held at love for the set.

In the second set, both players held serve for the first couple of games. This time Serra struck first in game four, but Ferrero broke back and held to tie the set at 3-3. Serra stepped up his attacks on Ferrero’s second serve and was aggressive to keep the counterpuncher on his heels. After another series of breaks, Ferrero turned it up again to break Serra in game 11. He then held serve to win the set, the match and the title.