Sun Jul 20 10:28:43 2008

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Montanes rallies to win Dutch Open title

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Amersfoort, The Netherlands (Sports Network) - Spain's Albert Montanes rallied to down Steve Darcis of Belgium and win the Dutch Open title Sunday.

Montanes was blitzed in the first set by the third-seeded Darcis, the defending champion, but settled down and came back to take his first ATP singles title in three sets, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Darcis captured his first-ever ATP singles title last year at this event and was trying to become the first player to successfully defend the Dutch Open crown since Balazs Taroczy, who won five straight from 1978-82.

Montanes, seeded fifth, was dominant all week. He had not dropped a set until falling to Darcis in the opening frame on Sunday.

The Barcelona resident was 0-4 in finals coming in and had last reached a title match last year in Casablanca, losing 6-1, 6-1 to France's Paul-Henri Mathieu.

Sunday's matchup was the first between the 24-year-old Darcis and the 27- year-old Montanes and Spaniard earned $86,000 for his efforts.