(September 30, 2012) -- The numbers were working both for and against Gilles Simon heading into the all-French final at the Thailand Open on Sunday. Simon had lost only two of twelve career finals—that was the good news. The bad news? Simon had never beaten his opponent, World No. 14 Richard Gasquet, in five previous attempts.
As it turns out, that bit of bad news was good news for Gasquet. The second seed breezed past Simon 6-2, 6-1, giving the mercurial Frenchman his seventh career title and his first in over two years.
“I played against a French player who is also my friend so of course it is a little bit strange for me,” said Gasquet. “But for me it’s a title.”
Simon took an early, short-lived lead after breaking Gasquet in the first game of the match, but Gasquet answered by breaking back, then he broke again in the sixth and eighth game to seal the first set in a half hour.
Gasquet managed five breaks of serve in the sixty-nine minute encounter, and he won 28 of 48 points against the Simon serve in seven games against the fourth seed.
Wildcards Lu and Udomchoke Capture Doubles Title
Yen-Hsun Lu and Danai Udomchoke took the doubles title on Sunday with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the fourth-seeded pairing of Eric Butorac and Paul Hanley. The victory on home soil was the first ever title for Udomchoke, who was born in and still resides in Bangkok.
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THAILAND OPEN
Bangkok Thailand
September 24-30, 2012
$551,000/ATP World Tour 250
Surface: Hard
RESULTS -- SUNDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER, 2012
Singles - Final
[2] R Gasquet (FRA) d [4] G Simon (FRA) 62 61
Doubles - Final
[WC] Y Lu (TPE) / D Udomchoke (THA) d [4] E Butorac (USA) / P Hanley (AUS) 63 64