Gasquet wins Qatar Open
Richard Gasquet beat Nikolay Davydenko 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3 to win Qatar Open.
Second-seeded Richard Gasquet won the Qatar Open for his eight career title on Saturday, coming from a set down to beat Nikolay Davydenko 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
The unseeded Davydenko, who struggled with injuries last season, had the upper hand early. He broke the 10th-ranked Gasquet in the opening game, saved a break point in the second and hit a drop shot for a 3-0 lead on the way to dominating the first set. He was the aggressor, hitting a slew of forehand and backhand winners that kept Gasquet well beyond the baseline and helped to neutralize his net play.
In the second set, the 44th-ranked Davydenko saved three break points early and broke Gasquet for 3-2 and had two break chances to go up 4-2 which in all likelihood would have given him an insurmountable lead. But Gasquet saved them and broke back to even the set at 4. The set went to a tiebreak and Gasquet outplayed a clearly fatigued Davydenko, who started racking up unforced errors and losing control of his serve.
In the decider, the opening game was interrupted when Davydenko received about 10 minutes of treatment for hip trouble.
He returned but was no match for Gasquet, who seemed the stronger and more determined player. Gasquet broke the Russian twice to go up 5-2. Davydenko broke back to make it 5-3 but then the Frenchman broke for a third time when Davydenko hit a backhand into the net his 57th unforced error of the match.
