A fourth Open Sud de France title was captured by Richard Gasquet on Sunday as he overcame fellow Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-5 6-4.
Advertisement
A three-time Grand Slam semifinalist, Gasquet is chasing his 13th career title and he next plays Germany’s Dustin Brown, who won his quarterfinal against Ruben Bemelmans 6-3, 6-3.
“It’s always delicate to play against a very good player who you’ve never beaten before, but I played a solid match”, Gasquet said.
However, the momentum shifted again as Mathieu won only three of the next 18 points and Gasquet closed out the first set in 55 minutes.
The Frenchman was in control of the match against the eighth seed from Cyprus from the get-go, winning 6-4, 6-4 in an hour and 28 minutes.
He has featured in the last four finals in Montpellier, beating Benoit Paire and Jerzy Janowicz either side of a defeat to Gael Monfils in 2014.
Earlier, Mathieu beat German teenager Alexander Zverev 7-6 (11), 7-5 in a hard-fought match.
Although Struff had 14 aces, he failed to convert any of his eight break-point chances.
The top seed needed to dig deep to produce an excellent fightback, eventually prevailing 1-6 6-4 6-3.
Advertisement
That set up an all-French final against veteran Paul-Henri Mathieu.
