Richard Gasquet joins Stan Wawrinka in Montpellier
The Open Sud de France in Montpellier had moved to this city in 2010 when the organizers bought a license from Lyon, staged at the Arena with the capacity of 7500. In the first nine editions (it stayed away from the calendar in 2011), the Frenchmen were the players to beat after three titles for Richard Gasquet and two for Gael Monfils, joined by Lucas Pouille and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who is the latest champion in Montpellier. Also, the home favorites were beaten in the finals seven times, including 2017 when Alexander Zverev stole the show in front of Gasquet. In the all-French final, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga took down Pierre-Hugues Herbert this February and the crowd would love to see more of that in the first week of February 2020, with Montpellier taking place just after the Australian Open.
After the three-time Major champion Stan Wawrinka, the organizers have signed the three-time Open Sud de France winner Richard Gasquet who will seek another title at one of his favorite events after being the dominant figure between 2013-16. World no. 61 made a debut in Montpellier in 2010, losing in the second round to Jarkko Nieminen and suffering a loss to Philipp Kohlschreiber two years later, also before the quarter-final. That all changed from 2013 as Richard rattled off six straight finals at this tournament, lifting the trophy with a dominant win over Benoit Paire in 2013 and falling to Gael Monfils in the final a year later. Richard restored the order in 2015 and 2016 with triumphs over Jerzy Janowicz and Paul-Henri Mathieu, fighting for the crown in the following two years as well but losing to Alexander Zverev and Lucas Pouille. A groin surgery sidelined Gasquet from all the action in the first four months of the current season, skipping Montpellier for the first time since 2011 and hoping to extend a great streak next February.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2NXws6q
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