Tursunov takes Metz title

Dmitry Tursunov landed a fifth ATP Tour title by beating crowd favourite Paul-Henri Mathieu to claim the Metz Open.

Number five seed too good for home favourite in Metz

Russian Dmitry Tursunov landed a fifth ATP Tour title after beating crowd favourite Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6 1-6 6-4 to claim the Metz Open. Number five seed Tursunov took close to two-and-a-half hours to complete his victory on a third match point to claim a second trophy of 2008. Frenchman Mathieu, the home favourite, had squandered three set points in the first-set tie-breaker, before the Russian went on to win it 8-6. Tursunov then let Mathieu back into the match by throwing away the second set, although he found his top gear again in the third and broke in the fifth game before holding out to win. "In the second set he had a lot of chances to attack my second serve, and he was successful in doing that," Tursunov said. "As I was two breaks down, Paul-Henri was playing with a lot of confidence. "Today there wasn't a big difference. I can't say that I was better than him. "He could have broken me as well in the third set." Mathieu was disappointed not to have taken advantage after such a commanding second set. "He broke me and I couldn't break him, which cost me the match," the Frenchman said. "It's tough to lose a match like that. I think that I have to improve two or three things."