By ,
Published January 13, 2015
Richard Gasquet eased to a straight-set win over fellow Frenchman Benoit Paire to capture the Open Sud de France title.
The third-seeded Gasquet needed a mere 69 minutes to post a 6-2, 6-3 victory in Sunday's final. He improved his match record to 14-1 this year and became the first two-time winner on the ATP World Tour in 2013.
"I realize this is my best season start ever and I just want to keep going and stay healthy," said Gasquet, who commuted 40 minutes from his home each day this week. "The circumstances here are totally different for me, from the rest of the weeks on the tour, because I sleep at home in Bezier and I drive back and forth every day. It's a totally different feeling than lifting a trophy in a different country far away."
Gasquet also won the Australian Open tune-up in Doha to open the year and helped France to a first-round Davis Cup win over Israel with a pair of singles victories. His lone loss this year came against countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round of the Aussie Open.
Sunday's rout gave Gasquet his ninth career title and his third in France. He also won tournaments in his native country in Lyon in 2006 and Nice in 2010.
Paire, seeded eighth this week, was appearing in his second ATP final. He was also the runner-up last May in Belgrade.
"It's a positive week overall for me," said Paire. "I am a bit disappointed about today's performance, but Richard is a very strong player with a very unique style and there was nothing I could do today."
Gasquet, who improved to 9-10 all-time in title matches, earned a first prize of $100,000.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/gasquet-routs-paire-for-montpellier-crown