Juan Monaco has secured his seventh career title and fourth of 2012, defeating Julien Benneteau in a hard fought final at the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend (September 30, local time).

The 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 win was Monaco's first hard court success, and was made particularly impressive by the fact that it came just a day after a tightly contested semi-final against Japan's Kei Nishikori.

"I celebrated with my team in the locker room and tonight I'll have Malaysian food with my team," said Monaco after taking match point. 

"It has been nice to be in this city and win the trophy. It feels very good. When I win a title, I think of my family and my team, as they believe in me, they have supported me and we have worked hard to win tournaments."

Monaco has already claimed the German Open Tennis Championship, U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships and the 2012 VTR Open this year, and now has a significant chance of reaching the ATP World Tour Finals in November.

Meanwhile Frenchman Richard Gasquet has cruised to victory over Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-1 in the final of the Thailand Open in Bangkok.

Gasquet, the number two seed for the event, had a tough route to the finals, contesting tight matches with Grigor Dimitrov and Bernard Tomic before outlasting Jarkko Nieminen 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the semis.

However he was still far too good for fellow Frenchman Simon, who was nursing a right knee injury which noticeably slowed him down on the court.

"I played against a French player who is also my friend so of course it a little bit strange but for me it's a title and I've had some tough matches this week so I’m very happy to win," said Gasquet.