Frenchmen Claim Marseille Title

© Yohan Brandt - Open 13Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra won their second ATP World Tour doubles title together.

Michael Llodra became the first player this season to sweep the singles and doubles titles at the same ATP World Tour tennis tournament as he and Julien Benneteau, whom he had earlier defeated in the singles final, triumphed in the doubles final at the Open 13. The second seeds defeated top seeds Julian Knowle and Robert Lindstedt 6-4, 6-3 Sunday in Marseille.

"Mika showed that he was just too good for everybody this week not only in singles, but also in doubles," complimented Benneteau.

"I had a great week here in Marseille and I'm happy to finish the indoor swing in such a successful way," added Llodra.

As winners of the ATP World Tour 250 indoor hard-court event, Benneteau and Llodra received 250 ATP World Tour Ranking points and €28,325, while runners-up Knowle and Lindstedt earned 150 points and shared €14,870 in prize money.

Frenchmen Benneteau and Llodra captured their second ATP World Tour title together, having won their one previous final in Las Vegas (d. Bryan-Bryan) in 2008. They were playing together for the first time since reaching the quarter-finals at the AEGON Championships in June 2009.

Soon after finishing the singles final, Benneteau and Llodra returned to the court and edged a close first set with a break of Lindstedt’s serve in the 10th game. They won the final three games of the match from 3-3 in the second set to seal victory after 71 minutes.

The 29-year-old Llodra won his18th tour-level doubles title, and triumphed in Marseille for the second year in a row after lifting the trophy last year with countryman Arnaud Clement (d. Knowle-Ram). Benneteau, aged 28, clinched his sixth ATP World Tour doubles title and his fourth on home soil after twice winning at the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon (2006, 2009) and once at the Open de Moselle (2003) in Metz.

Austrian Knowle and Lindstedt of Sweden, a new pairing in 2010, were contesting their first ATP World Tour final together, having lost only one set en route. The 35-year-old Knowle also finished runner-up in Marseille last year, partnering Andy Ram.