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Roger Federer became the first player to successfully defend the Qatar ExxonMobil Open title since Stefan Edberg in 1994-95 with a 6-3, 7-6(5) victory over seventh seed Gael Monfils of France, at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex, on Saturday.
In the first career meeting between the pair, Federer, the world number one needed one hour and 55 minutes to capture his 34th ATP singles title.
Federer won six games in a row in the first set and recovered from 3-5 in the second set tie-break to hand Monfils his third loss in four ATP finals.
Federer, who is celebrating his 101st consecutive week as the world number one, now has won his last nine matches in Doha without dropping a set.
The 19-year-old Monfils was appearing in his first outdoor hard court final, but Federer ensured a 19th victory from 20 matches against French players.
Federer has now won the last five ATP events played in the Middle East (Doha in 2005-06, Dubai in 2003-05) and he has won his first event of the year for the fourth time in the past five years (2002 Sydney, 2004 Australian Open, 2005 Doha, 2006 Doha).
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID:
Federer: "It's almost like Wimbledon [in the Middle East], I play and I win. It's really nice to win back-to-back titles, it makes you want to come back and win a third time.
"He [Monfils] is young, has a different style from other players and a great opportunity to do very well in the future. I really had to watch out, I was down very quickly as it took me a few games to figure out how to play against him. Then he was very close in the second set and I really had to come up with some very good tennis."
Monfils: "It was a great experience to play against him and I hope I will get another opportunity. I am not sure I played very well today as I had problems with my serve and missed a lot of shots when he was slicing to my backhand. But I played better than in the last two finals I lost, I enjoyed myself more.
"I don't think about reaching the Top 10 or in terms of numbers. I just want to improve my game and give my best each time I play. I had a good week here but I realized I need to work on a lot of things."
Friday: Federer Fires into Final
Thursday: Federer Set for Haas Clash
Wednesday: Santoro Makes Life Tough for Federer
Tuesday: Federer In Hot Form Early
Monday: Monfils Advances but Gasquet Falls in Mixed Day for France
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