CASABLANCA, Morocco -- Paul-Henri Mathieu of France and
Albert Montanes of Spain advanced to the Grand Prix Hassan II final
on Sunday. The eighth-seeded Mathieu defeated countryman Marc Gicquel 6-3,
7-5, and then Montanes rallied to beat compatriot Ruben Ramirez
Hidalgo 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the semifinals Saturday. Ramirez Hidalgo was broken to love when serving for the match at
5-4 in the second set -- and then dropped eight of the next 11
games. Montanes has lost his previous finals -- at Bucharest in 2001,
Valencia in 2004 and Acapulco in 2005. Mathieu broke Gicquel in the fourth game of the first set and
then held to love to lead 4-1. Gicquel dropped serve on the opening game of the second set. He
eventually broke back for 4-4 and had a chance to force a decider,
but Mathieu saved set point on serve down 5-4. Mathieu's two titles came in 2002 -- at Lyon and Moscow. He last
reached a final in 2003, at Palermo.
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