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Tearful Kyle Edmund wins first ATP title as he defeats Gael Monfils at European Open

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Kyle Edmund of Britain reacts after winning a point against Filip Krajinovic of Serbia during their men's singles first round match at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament on October 9, 2018. (Photo by WANG ZHAO / AFP)WANG ZHAO/AFP/Getty Images — Edmund won a first title (Picture: AFP)

Kyle Edmund ended his wait for a first ATP title as he defeated Gael Monfils to win the European Open.

The Brit was the top seed in Antwerp and cruised to the last stage without dropping a set.

However, he was forced to dig deep against the experienced Frenchman and he battled back from a set down to win 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4).

He broke down in tears at the end of the match, showing just how much it meant to him.

Im just very obviously happy, he said. A lot of hard work goes into this. Its just emotion.

Its hugely special. Youll always remember this one. Gael made me work for it today. Credit to him. Im so happy. Its not just me who puts in the work, theres guys behind the scenes. Its really nice when something youve been working for comes together.

Its only my second final. Ive not been able to string together my matches to win tournaments. Theres always been something to let me down. Its been one of my goals to be more consistent. Today I had to really dig deep.

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Asked what impact it would have on him in the future, he added: It will help a lot just to get that monkey off my back.

Its great Ive been able to have this experience and come through. It gives you so much belief and confidence for the next time it happens.

Edmund displayed great fight to claw his way back into the contest and showed real nerve when facing two break points at the beginning of the decider.

It was the British No. 1s second final of 2018 but he gave a far better account of himself than in the 6-2 6-2 drubbing at the hands of then world No. 355 Pablo Andujar in Marrakech and the 23-year-old added another string to his bow at the back end of whats been a terrific season.

The world No. 15 will now head to Vienna to compete in the Erste Bank Open, beginning against Argentinas Diego Schwartzman.

epa07109487 Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas during the ATP Stockholm Open tennis tournament men's single final against Latvia's Ernests Gulbis at the Royal Tennis Hall on October 21 2018, in Stockholm, Sweden. EPA/Soren Andersson/TT SWEDEN OUT — Tsitsipas picked up a title (Picture: EPA)

The match was one of three finals scheduled at the same time on Sunday afternoon and Stefanos Tsitsipas earned the first tour-level triumph of his short career.

The 20-year-old Greek still harbours ambitions of reaching the ATP Finals this year and did his chances no harm by defeating Ernests Gulbis 6-4 6-4 in Stockholm.

It was Tsitsipas third final of the year but the first where he didnt meet Rafael Nadal – and he took his opportunity with both hands to continue a magnificent season.

Russias Karen Khachanov, meanwhile, picked up the third title of his career by defeating Monfils compatriot Adrian Mannarino 6-2 6-2 in the final of the Kremlin Cup.

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As a result, he will climb into the worlds top-20 for the first time.

Russia's tennis player Karen Khachanov celebrates his victory over France's tennis player Adrian Mannarino during the Kremlin Cup tennis tournament men's singles final match in Moscow on October 21, 2018. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP)ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images — Khachanov picked up a title (Picture: AFP/Getty)

epa07108974 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine celebrates after winning her match against Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic during their round robin singles match of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals 2018 at the Indoor Stadium in Singapore, 21 October 2018. EPA/WALLACE WOON — Svitolina won in Singapore (Picture: EPA)

Elsewhere, the season-ending WTA Finals got underway in Singapore, with Elina Svitolina opening the event with a win over Petra Kvitova.

The Ukrainian defeated the Czech 6-3 6-3 to record her first top-10 victory since May and to end a seven-match losing streak against the world No. 5.

While it all went her way on court, there were concerns for Svitolina after the match as she suffered some dizzyness during her press conference.

Im just not feeling good, she said after returning from a short break to tackle the light-headedness.

However, ilnness aside, she was delighted to get the win under her belt and prove the haters wrong.

Winning this match definitely gives me lots of confidence, she added.

Tennis - Shanghai Masters tennis tournament - Shanghai, China - October 8, 2018 - Gael Monfils of France in action against Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece. REUTERS/Aly Song — Monfils beat Edmund (Picture: REUTERS)

epa07109281 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic reacts after winning against Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark during their singles round robin match of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals 2018 held at the Indoor Stadium in Singapore, 21 October 2018. EPA/WALLACE WOON — Pliskova downed Wozniacki (Picture: EPA)

I want to take this as one to go forward, and for all those people and haters that were saying that I dont deserve to be here and Im, you know, not good.

Until the next match, I can really enjoy this win.

In the other White Group match, Karolina Pliskova stunned defending champion Caroline Wozniacki.

The Czech saved all 10 break points she faced to win 6-2 6-4.

Its always tough matches against Caroline, said Pliskova. The last time we played was here, and I remember the first set was more than an hour, and I had set points.

I believed I had a chance because we had a very good match here last year and I tried my best today.