Fourth seed Richard Gasquet dropped just six points on serve in a crushing 6-3, 6-1 victory over unseeded fellow Frenchman Marc Gicquel in the Lyon final Sunday. It was the first all-French final since 2004 in Metz, when Gasquet fell to Jerome Haehnel.
Source: ATPtennis.com
Gasquet saved the lone break point he faced while converting four of 10 break point opportunities on Gicquel's serve.
En route to the final Gasquet had to rally from a set down in both the quartefinals and semifinals, first defeating fifth seed Robin Soderling 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and then 2000 Lyon champion Arnaud Clement 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-1.
The 20-year-old finished the week with a 33-21 match record in 2006, surpassing his 31-11 season in 2005. Gasquet has put together a strong 26-8 run since mid-June, rebounding from a 7-13 start. However, despite today's win he is not in contention to qualify for Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai.
Gasquet's other titles in 2006 came at Nottingham in June (d. Bjorkman) and Gstaad in July (d. Lopez). Additionally, he was runner-up to Federer at the ATP Masters Series event in Toronto in August. Gasquet and Federer are the only ATP players to have reached finals on all four surfaces this year: hard courts, clay, grass and indoor carpet.
Gicquel, 29, was playing in the first final of his career. He is the oldest first-time finalist this year. Gicquel is having the best year of his career by far, with a record of 17-11. Before 2006 he had a career ATP mark of 5-5.
