WASHINGTON -- Things were lking bleak for Gael Monfils, a man with a long history of losing tournament finals.Monfils opponent in the Citi Open title match, Ivo Karlovic, was about to serve for the championship and had not been broken all week.Down but not quite out, Monfils came through. He broke Karlovic twice in a span of four service games and erased a match point in coming back for a 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-4 victory Sunday at the Citi Open to earn his first trophy in two-and-a-half years.To be honest, Monfils said, today was pure luck.Well, maybe, but he deserves credit for figuring out a way to do enough to neutralize the big serve of the 6-ft-11 Karlovic, who was trying to become, at age 37, the oldest man since 1973 to win ATP singles tournaments in consecutive weeks.Monfils, a Frenchman seeded No. 2, had lost 19 of 24 career finals and eight of his last nine. This time, he earned $348,200 in prize money for his first title since February 2014 at Montpellier, France, and the most important of his career -- his first at an ATP 500 tournament, which refers to the ranking points the champion collects.He noted that he was proud to join Arthur Ashe and Yannick Noah as winners in the U.S. capital whose names are etched on the blue awnings around the main stadium.Theyve been an inspiration for me, Monfils said. I grew up with those names. Definitely to have my name next to them, its priceless.For a while, it didnt lk as if hed get that honor. Until 5-4 in the second set, when Karlovic served for the victory, the 13th-seeded Croatian had won all 53 service games in the hard-court tournament.I still had this little hope. ... Maybe he will get tight a little bit. And obviously, he got tight a little bit, Monfils said.Monfils converted his seventh break point of the match when Karlovic pushed a forehand volley long. Karlovic put his hands on his hips, knowing he had come so close to ending things right then and there.On the ensuing tiebreaker, Karlovic was one point from victory at 6-5, but a 116 mph serve by Monfils produced a backhand return that sailed long. A couple points later, Monfils owned that set, and he broke again to lead 2-1 in the third.Sn enough, Monfils ended Karlovics eight-match win streak, which included a title last week on grass at Newport, Rhode Island.Not since 43 years ago, when Ken Rosewall won back-to-back events a month shy of his 39th birthday, has a man older than Karlovic won two ATP titles in a row.Karlovics intimidating serve can take over a match. With the temperature nearing 100 degrees Sunday, it made for even tougher conditions for Monfils to try to deal with those high-bouncing serves.Monfils, who is 29, tried a bit of everything. At the outset, he std way back to return -- to no avail, as he dropped 18 of the first 19 points Karlovic served (the lone exception was a double-fault).Occasionally, Monfils shuffled back and forth behind the baseline while awaiting serves. Later, he moved closer to the baseline while receiving, a tactic that seemed to help.But the real secret to Monfils success might simply have been that Karlovic wore himself out with his net-rushing tactics.At the end, Monfils said, I knew a little bit that its tough to serve and volley for two hours in the heat. Custom Mavericks T-shirts . Their 38th instalment is arguably their biggest fight card to date, including three-title fights and a main event which was selected by the fans. The promotion boasts 14-straight years of business and is operated by MFC president Mark Pavelich, who is often overlked in this country for the foundation hes established for MMA in Canada. 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Victor Moses converted a 20th-minute penalty after an Ethiopian handball, and Victor Obinna made certain of Nigerias place in Brazil with his powerful free kick in the 82nd at UJ Esuene Stadium. WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Gael Monfils is finally feeling gd about his game. Hes winning, t. The Frenchman, once ranked among the worlds top 10 players, beat Spains Fernando Verdasco 6-7 (10), 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday night to advance to the Winston-Salem Open semifinals. The 43rd-ranked Monfils will face Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine, a 7-6 (7), 6-3 winner over Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan. "Its always gd to be in the semifinals, especially after two big wins," Monfils said. "(Verdasco is) very aggressive, hitting lots of winners and making lots of mistakes. It makes you play a bit different." In the evening session at the Wake Forest Tennis Center, American Sam Querrey beat unseeded Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania 6-3, 6-4 in the final hard-court tournament before next weeks U.S. Open. Monfils, a touring pro since 2004, was once ranked as high as No. 7 in the world at the end of the 2011 season. But a knee injury forced him to miss the final four months of the 2012 schedule, dropping him as low as No. 119 as he tried playing his way back into shape. Then, the Frenchman missed another month on the tour dealing with ankle and bicep injuries, with the Winston-Salem Open his first tournament action since the forced break. Against Verdasco, Monfils had key service breaks in the second and third sets to move into a tournament semifinal round for the fifth time this season. "Im pretty happy with how things are going," said Monfils, who had seven aces and just one double fault. "Hopefully, I can keep winning and try to get back into shape." In beating Lu, the 38th-ranked Dolgopolov overcame a knuckle injury on his left hand to advance to a semifinal for the first time this season. The right-handed Dolgopolov had to take an injury timeout in the fifth game of the second set after hitting his left thumb with the frame of his racket on a forehand shot. "I couldnt feel it much for a few games," Dolgopolov said. "It just aches -- not a hard pain, but it threw off my concentration a bit. Stuff like that happens. You have to deal with it and get back as fast as you can." Dolgopolov, who had a half--inch cut on the first knuckle of his left thumb, lost serve in that game.dddddddddddd But he broke right back in the sixth game, then had another service break two games later. "I wasnt happy I lost the break," said Dolgopolov, who had nine aces against No. 62 Lu. "I was serving pretty solid all match, but after that, I gave away three points that he didnt do much to break. After that, I did pretty well for a few games." Querrey -- at No. 29, the highest ranked player remaining in the field -- advanced to a tournament semifinal for the third time this season, and his first since mid-February at San Jose, Calif. "I thought I played well -- the best Ive played so far," Querrey said. "I had that mental lapse in the second set, but I was fortunate there. I cant afford to have that happen tomorrow, but all around it was pretty gd. Ive gotten a little better in each match, and I hope I can be even better tomorrow." Querrey finished with 10 aces, but struggled with his serve at times against the 126th-ranked Berankis. At one point in the second set, the two swapped service breaks in four straight games before Querrey served out the match. "I was just frustrated about those previous two service games," Querrey said. "He broke me in both of those, and that doesnt happen often. That last game, I turned the dial up a little bit. I wasnt going to be broken a third time, so I went with the gas right down the middle." Querrey will next face Austrias Jurgen Melzer, who beat Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 6-4, 6-3 in a match that was delayed twice for rain, the second delay lasting just over an hour. The 32nd-ranked Melzer had only two aces to eight by Tursunov, but he broke the Russians serve four times -- three coming in the second set -- to advance to his third tournament semifinal this season and the first since winning in Dallas in March. "I felt like I hit the ball well, a lot better than I did the first two rounds," Melzer said. "(The rain delays) were tough, because I was in a really gd rhythm. It was difficult, but I felt like I was in command of the game." ' ' '