The fourth seeded Almagro outplayed his opponent in the deciding set to take the match 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 in a little less than two hours, for a sixth career title.

After losing the opening set, top-seeded Soderling recovered to break Almagro early in the second and establish a 3-1 lead.

The Swede clinched that set to take the match into a third but Almagro broke the two-time French Open finalist twice in a row to ease to victory.

Almagro said the win was a "big moment" for him.

"Robin is a great player. Here in Bastad he's like a hero," he said, adding he had prepared for the match by trying to imagine how Soderling would play.

"I tried to be him. I was thinking about the match all night and this morning, and finally I can beat him and I'm very happy," he said.

The 24-year-old Almagro, a clay-court specialist, also beat Soderling when the pair last met, in Madrid in May. On that occasion, Almagro won in straight sets.
 

In Prague, seventh-seeded Agnes Szavay won her fifth career WTA title Sunday, beating Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 in the Prague Open final.

Szavay broke the 24-year-old Czech in the opening game and went on to dominate the first set.

The 21-year-old Hungarian also won the first game of the second set, but Zahlavova Strycova responded by taking six straight games in her first WTA final.

In the final set, Zahlavova Strycova broke in the third game before the 49th-ranked Szavay fought back to win the match in 1 hour, 56 minutes.

Szavay, who won the Budapest Grand Prix title on July 11, was playing her 10th match in two weeks.

"I was exhausted in the final set," she said.
 

In Stuttgart, Germany, Spain's Albert Montanes collected his second ATP title of the season on Sunday by beating Gael Monfils 6-2, 1-2 after the third-seeded Frenchman retired injured at the Mercedes Cup.

The fifth seeded Montanes needed just 55 minutes to claim his fifth win of his career and claim $61,000 and a new E-Class Mercedes convertible car.

The 30th ranked Montanes had earlier defeated in-form Jurgen Melzer in the quarterfinals and former top-ranked Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero to reach the final in Stuttgart.

"It was a fantastic week. This is a great victory for me and for all of Spain," said Montanes. "It's an incredible year for Spain, in football, tennis and basketball. And I'm happy to have added more joy to my country." The 17th ranked Monfils lost the first set in 33 minutes.

He turned his right ankle in the final game, after which he had the tournament trainer tape it up.

Monfils continued in the second set but conceded defeat during the change after a 2-1 lead.

"My ankle just got worse and worse. I thought I could come back. But I wasn't 100 percent and Albert would have figured out he needed to just move me around for the win," said Monfils, who was appearing in his first ATP final of the season and hoping for the third crown of his career.

Montanes became the sixth Spanish winner in Stuttgart following Rafael Nadal (2007, 2005), David Ferrer (2006), Alex Corretja (1997), Alberto Berasategui (1994) and Jose Higueras (1983).