Garcia-Lopez wins Grand Prix Hassan II, 1st title in nearly 4 years
CASABLANCA, Morocco -- Eighth-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez won his first title in nearly four years after rallying to beat fourth-seeded Marcel Granollers 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in an all-Spanish final on clay at the Grand Prix Hassan II on Sunday.
The previous title for the 30-year-old Garcia-Lopez was on indoor hard courts in Bangkok back in 2010, and he had lost his previous two finals -- last year on clay at Bucharest, Romania and on indoor hard courts at St. Petersburg, Russia.
Granollers, who was bidding for his fifth career title, dropped his serve five times and was less consistent. The 28-year-old Granollers won only 60 percent of first-serve points compared to 76 percent for Garcia-Lopez, who won their only previous meeting in the second round of the same tournament in 2010.
Garcia-Lopez continued the recent dominance of his countrymen at the tournament, becoming the fourth different Spaniard to win in the past six years after Tommy Robredo (2013), Pablo Andujar (2011 and 2012) and former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero (2009).
