With just two weeks left before the ATP World Tour Finals in London, Richard Gasquet improved his chances of grabbing one of the last qualifying spots by winning the ATP 250 event in Moscow.
Although No.1 seeded Richard was not in the best of forms this week, his newly improved mental strength helped his capitalize on a great opportunity. With the stiffest competition coming from second seeded Italian, Andreas Seppi, the Frenchman saw the opening. He started his campaign slowly, dropping a set to Russian Evgeny Donskoy, but he recovered in time, cruising past another Russian, Teymuraz Gabashivili, and giant Croat, Ivo Karlovic, to make the final.
Although he faced qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin, Gasquet had a big battle in front of him. After being outpowered in the opening set, the Frenchman drew in all his experience to level the match with an inspired display. It was another Mount Everest to climb in the decider however, as an uninhibited Kukushkin took charge, breaking to go 4-3 up. The Frenchman was ready for a final assault, winning three straight games to close out a hard-fought 3-6,6-4,6-4 victory. "It was an incredible week here for me and now I have great memories about my playing here," he told reporters. "It is one of the most successful seasons in my career but the race for a place in London is not over yet and I need to concentrate on my further playing to get there."
The Frenchman was reborn at the beginning of the season when he won two titles in Doha and Montpellier. He then reached his second Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open, and now stands a good chance of qualifying for the Final Showdown in London. "I’ll try my best to qualify," he said. "Two big tournaments are coming up, including [the ATP World Tour Masters 1000] in Paris. I’ll try my best. I was close to losing today. But I fought a lot. It’s important for me to qualify for it. But the title here is important for me because my opponent played very well."
The last three places with probably be decided between him, Tsonga, Federer and Wawrinka. I back all of them in their quest, so let the best men win!
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