STUTTGART, Germany, July 18 (UPI) -- Argentine Guillermo Canas defeated countryman Gaston Gaudio, the French Open champion, in five sets Sunday to win the Mercedes Cup.
Canas outlasted the second-seeded Gaudio 5-7, 6-2, 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 in match that lasted nearly four hours to record his first title of 2004 and fourth in his career.
The 26-year-old Canas, also a runner-up at this event in 2001 and 2002, improved to 4-6 lifetime against Gaudio and avenged a first-round loss at the French Open earlier this year.
Canas won a tournament for the first time since the 2002 Masters Series event in Toronto.
Gaudio was appearing in his third straight title match. He captured the French Open last month by beating fellow Argentine Guillermo Coria in five sets and then reached last week's Swedish Open final before bowing out to countryman Mariano Zabaleta.
