Richard Gasquet showed that he was well over the back injury that forced him to miss the Australian Open at the beginning of the year, as he survived an onslaught from Dustin Brown, recovering from a set and a break deficit to beat the German 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and thirty-nine minutes.
Brown had come out of the blocks firing, constantly pressing and advancing to the net, putting Gasquet under pressure and reaping the rewards. The German had shocked Gasquet’s compatriot and third seed Gilles Simon in the quarter-finals, and seemed to be revelling in the confidence earned from that excellent win. Gasquet in turn seemed a little taken aback by the German’s aggressiveness, and struggled on service as Brown found it easy to attack the Frenchman’s first and second serve with equal measure. Brown broke three straight times, winning six consecutive games in the first set.
Brown continued into the second, set winning the first three games again to take his consecutive games total to nine. Gasquet looked dead and buried in the match at this point. But Brown, whilst known for producing magical tennis at times, is just as famous for not being able to sustain it. Gasquet got himself on the board in the second set, and then broke Brown to love to return to serve. Brown was still proving a difficult obstacle, as Gasquet was forced to deuce in his next two service games. In between however, the former Wimbledon and US Open semi-finalist found his range, producing backhands that landed on the shoe-tops of the net-rushing Brown, and Gasquet led. The Frenchman then held to ensure a decider was required.
Troubles seemingly gone, and the first set an increasingly distant memory, Gasquet pulled away from Brown, breaking in game three and looked far more assured on serve, as he offered Brown no break points. Brown tried to stay with him, working hard at deuce when three-five down, but Gasquet was relentless, securing the match with a double break of serve in the second set to ensure he will play for the crown that he also won last year.
His opponent in the final will be Paul-Henri Mathieu, who defeated Alexander Zverev earlier 7-6, 7-5. Gasquet leads the head-to-head 5-2, and won the most recent meeting 6-1, 6-3 in Montpellier two years ago. The last of Mathieu’s wins came seven years ago in Rotterdam.
