Robin Soderling beat Juan Monaco 6-3, 7-6 (4) to win the Swedish Open on Sunday for his fourth ATP Tour title and first on clay. The second-seeded Soderling became the first Swedish winner of the tournament since 2000 when his coach, Magnus Norman, won the title. Soderling broke for a 1-0 lead in the second set and had a break point for 4-1. But he let Monaco back in the match when his serve deserted him in the eighth game. Monaco broke back to 4-4 after Soderling hit a backhand wide. Leading 5-4, the unseeded Argentine reached set point when Soderling fell behind 30-40. But he managed to hold his serve after hitting a forehand winner in the corner. Soderling took command early in the tiebreaker and never trailed. He moved to 6-2 and won it on his second match point when Monaco netted a return. Soderling, this year's surprising French Open finalist, broke Monaco in the second game of the opening set when the Argentine netted a forehand. The Swede was never challenged when serving the rest of the way, closing out the set with a love game. Monaco eliminated two seeded players – No. 1 Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals and No. 3 Tommy Robredo in the semifinals – en route to the title match. Chardy wins Mercedes Cup In Germany, Jeremy Chardy of France rallied to beat Victor Hanescu of Romania 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 Sunday and win the Mercedes Cup for his first career title. It was Chardy's second career final, after finishing as runner-up in Johannesburg in February. After clinching the second set following a break of serve, Chardy raced to a 4-0 lead in the third. But Hanescu, who was seeded fourth, won the next three games and held two break points to even the score. Chardy saved them though and held serve to stay in front. He served out the match at love. Pennetta wins Palermo In Sicily, Flavia Pennetta routed Sara Errani 6-1, 6-2 Sunday to win the Palermo Open in an all-Italian final. The top-seeded Pennetta did not drop a set all week on the red clay courts of the Country Time Club. It was Pennetta's seventh career title, with six of the seven having come on clay. She finished 2008 ranked a career-high 13th and is currently 15th. Bammer beats Schiavone In Prague, Sybille Bammer of Austria beat top-seeded Francesca Schiavone 7-6 (4), 6-2 Sunday to win the Prague Open. Bammer broke Schiavone twice for a 4-0 lead in the first set before the Italian rallied to level the score at 5-5. Schiavone then took a 3-1 lead in tiebreaker before Bammer seized control. The 31st-ranked Bammer then broke Schiavone twice for a quick 5-1 lead in the second before sealing the win. Bammer beat Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-0, 7-5, while Schiavone struggled for 2 hours, 30 minutes before overcoming unseeded Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 6-2, 4-6, 7
