WASHINGTON -- Things were looking 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, breaking Karlovic twice in a span of four service games and erasing a match point while coming back for a 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-4 victory Sunday at the Citi Open to earn his first trophy in 2 1/2 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-foot-11 Karlovic, who was trying to become, at age 37, the oldest man since 1973 to win ATP singles tournaments in consecutive weeks.Normally I should have (won). I was better in the first two sets, and I didnt use my opportunity, Karlovic said. And then after that, I was dead. I couldnt move anymore.In the womens final, No. 7-seeded Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium won her fifth WTA singles title, beating 122nd-ranked Lauren Davis of the U.S. 6-4, 6-2. Wickmayer became the third woman to win the singles and doubles championships at the same event in 2016.Monfils, a Frenchman seeded No. 2, had lost 19 of 24 career finals, and 8 of his last 9. But 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.Didnt look as if hed get that honor.Up 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.He converted his seventh break point of the match when Karlovic pushed a forehand volley long. Karlovic put his hands on his hips, knowing hed come so close to ending things right then and there.Karlovic then was a single point from victory at 6-5 in the ensuing tiebreaker, but a 116 mph serve by Monfils produced a backhand return that sailed long. A couple of points later, Monfils owned that set, and he broke again to lead 2-1 in the third.Soon enough, Monfils ended Karlovics eight-match winning 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 stood way back to return, to no avail, dropping 18 of the first 19 points Karlovic served (the lone exception was a double-fault).Occasionally, Monfils would shuffle back and forth behind the baseline while awaiting serves.And later, he moved much 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 2 hours in the heat.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrichOdell Beckham Jr Womens Jersey . Louis Blues absence from top spot in the TSN. Bernie Kosar Jersey . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. 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He bettered that with a long-range blast that went in off the goal frame in the 18th, and converted a penalty in the 72nd after Diego Mainz was sent off for fouling Aduriz with only the goalkeeper to beat.Brisbane playmaker Anthony Milford has led the Broncos to a much-needed 38-16 NRL win over Parramatta.The Broncos five-eighth, who has been struggling to match his dynamic early season form in recent weeks, split the Eels line either side of halftime in a decisive spell at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.Milford, who hadnt made a line break since the round 13 loss to the Warriors, broke a 10-10 deadlock with the last play of the first half in a welcome return to form for the majority of the 30,189 crowd.The 22-year-old broke the line 30m out from Brisbanes tryline, sprinted past another two Eels defenders and then found winger Corey Oates with a grubber to ensure the hosts had a 14-10 lead at the break.Then five minutes into the second half it was Milford scoring his first try since round 15.The pivot again danced past a static Eels defence to dive over under the posts. Milford capped his night by again bamboozling his way through several Eels tacklers in the last play of the game to send Tevita Pangai Junior crashing over.Its a display that couldnt come at a better time for the Broncos, who have slipped from first on the ladder to sixth during a run of just five wins from their past 13 matches.Its also Brisbanes first back-to-back victories since a win over South Sydney at Suncorp Stadium on April 22.Fridays win continues a dismal run in Queensland for the Eels, who have now lost on their past six visits north of the Tweed River.Oates, another Bronco who has been strugggling for form post State-of-Origin, overcame an error which led to the Eels second try to score a hat-trick.ddddddddddddHalfback Ben Hunt joined the party with a late try of his own while debutant Jonus Pearson, a late inclusion for Lachlan Maranta (groin), scored a double.The victory ensures Brisbane head into next Thursdays clash with Canterbury full of confidence while the Eels face a tough road trip to tackle in-form Canberra.Broncos coach Wayne Bennett said he had felt a return to form wasnt far away from his charges.Its been coming, Bennett said, adding the try on halftime was a huge boost.Anthonys moment there just lifted everybody.Got in at halftime pretty excited and ready to go again. Eels coach Brad Arthur labelled his teams second-half effort as below the levels theyd set during a crisis-plagued season.Having battled to keep the club competitive in a year dominated by off-field woes, Arthur demanded his players not let their season slip away.Weve done a lot of good stuff this year. We dont want to undo it with three performances where we drop our standards or become another team, he said.Regardless of whats ahead of us, or not ahead of us in terms of being able to play semi-final football, it doesnt matter - we want to do everything we can to try and win every game.Its a long pre-season and we dont want to have too many regrets. ' ' '