In Juan Monaco’s third time in the Viña Del Mar final, the Argentine finally took home the title on Sunday by taking out first-time ATP World Tour finalist fellow countryman Carlos Berlocq 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-1.

“Third time is lucky they say, so this time it’s true,” said Monaco. “I’m very happy to be champion again. I lost the last seven finals, so this is a very special moment for me. I’m very happy because I fought a lot, I practiced a lot and I was thinking a lot about winning a tournament again. [It gives me] confidence and motivation.

“It was a hard final. At the beginning I felt I was playing very well. Then in the second set I started playing a little bit nervous and he came back, fought a lot, and at that time played really well. I tried to be very focused, tried to fight for every point like it was the last one and I started playing better every game.”

Berloq spoke about his career week: “I felt very good. I was very calm and I enjoyed it a lot. I think I did things well and played the match very well tactically. I think that if I continue this way I can continue achieving good results. Now I have to continue working and trying to reach this level of performance as many times as possible each year.

“It gives me a lot of confidence to be able to play at this level. It also gives me peace of mind and confidence to be able to play with the players at an equal level. All the players here are of good quality and even though I reached a final this week, every week is different and I have to continue being focused and working hard.”

The victory was Monaco’s four ATP World Tour title win.

RESULTS – SUNDAY, 5 FEBRUARY, 2012

Singles – Final
[1] J Monaco (ARG) d [7] C Berlocq (ARG) 63 67(1) 61

Doubles – Final
F Gil (POR) / D Gimeno-Traver (ESP) d [4] P Andujar (ESP) / C Berlocq (ARG) 16 75 12-10