Juan Monaco of Argentina survived a battle with France’s Julien Benneteau to win the Malaysian Open tennis tournament in a three-hour battle here.
In the longest match of this year’s tournament, Monaco eventually outplayed seventh seed Benneteau 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 Sunday.
World No.11 Monaco, the second seed, captured his first hard-court title after previously winning six career finals on clay, three of them this season.
Benneteau, who bundled out top seed David Ferrer of Spain 6-4, 6-1 in the semifinal, is yet to clinch his first singles title as he tasted defeat in a final for the seventh time.
In the doubles final, third seeds Alexander Peya of Austria and Bruno Soares of Brazil won their first doubles title together.
The duo, which finished runners-up at the Swedish Open in July, upset British top seeds Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins 5-7, 7-5, 10-7.
Peya had previously won two titles with his compatriot Oliver Marach, while Soares claimed his seventh doubles trophy.
