Gasquet tops Mathieu to win Open Sud de France

Richard Gasquet defended his Open Sud de France title in a win against Paul-Henri Mathieu.

MONTPELLIER, France (AP) — Top-seeded Richard Gasquet defended his Open Sud de France title with a 7–5, 6–4 win against Paul-Henri Mathieu in all-French final on Sunday.

Gasquet dropped serve twice in the first set, rallying from 3–0 down by breaking Mathieu’s serve three times on the way to a 13th career title and third at the Montpellier event.

Mathieu, who won the last of his four titles back in 2007, continued to cause Gasquet problems in the second set, but failed to take his two break-point chances.

The 29-year-old Gasquet, now ranked 10th, also won the Montpellier title in 2013.

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The victory moved him to 13–12 in career finals and he is 6–2 up on 34-year-old Mathieu in their head-to-heads.