Gasquet Successfully Defends Nottingham Title

Frenchman Richard Gasquet successfully defended his title in Nottingham as the 20-year-old dismissed Swede veteran Jonas Bjorkman 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the Red Letter Days Open on Saturday.

Gasquet, who turned 20 last Sunday, was playing in his first final since winning the title in his Nottingham debut last year (d. Mirnyi). With the win, Gasquet became the first player to capture the Nottingham title two years in a row.

Gasquet won't have much time to celebrate his victory as he faces a tough challenge against three-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer in the opening round of the grass court Grand Slam.

The Frenchman, who was having a disappointing season prior to this week, improved to 12-13 in 2006. Last season the French sensation, who started the year ranked outside of the Top 100, reached a career-high No.12 in September. He would then play one more tournament in Metz before having to sit out for the rest of the season due to an elbow injury. Gasquet is one of only three players to have defeated World No.1 Roger Federer in the past two years (Rafael Nadal and David Nalbandian are the other two).

En route to the title, Gasquet defeated qualifier Ivan Navarro Pastor of Spain, Italian Daniele Bracciali, countryman Gilles Simon, Swedes Robin Soderling and Jonas Bjorkman.

The 34-year-old Bjorkman was playing in his first final since capturing the Ho Chi Minh City crown in October last year (d. Stepanek). The 1998 and 2002 champion has a record of 6-11 in ATP finals.

"It wasn't easy, he played well and he has a lot of experience in finals," Gasquet said. "He served and came to the net very well, I had to save a break point in the first set, but I was able to hold and break him again to win the first set and that was the key to the match. I entered the second set with a lot of confidence and kept playing really well until the end. It's an amazing week for me, I'm really happy I was able to defend my title. it's great to arrive at Wimbledon in such conditions and with such confidence. I have a really tough draw over there, I know I have no pressure at all and I really hope to play a great match against Roger Federer."

Bjorkman said, "He played very well, he served really solid. Unfortunately I didn't return so well and my footwork wasn't really sharp today. Against a player like Gasquet, you really need to play your best tennis in order to have a chance. If I would have been able to break him in the first set maybe it would have been a different match, but today I felt that he was a step ahead all the time. It was a great week for me, I won four matches here, which is more matches than I had won this year and being in a final again here in Nottingham means a lot."
-- ATP