Richard Gasquet battles past Jarkko Nieminen into the title match – Thailand Open 2012
Second seed, Richard Gasquet of France, came back from the brink of loss to topple the seventh seeded player from Finland, Jarkko Nieminen, in the semi-finals of the Thailand Open in Bangkok on Saturday.
Gasquet lost the opener and was down 0-4 in the second set but then he made a remarkable comeback to stun the Finn contender 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 and move to the title match.
The Frenchman and Nieminen held their serve in the first five games and took the score to 3-2 in favour of the latter. The Finn participant hit a blow to Gasquet in the sixth and then made the most of that strike to close it 6-3.
Nieminen was making quick strides towards victory, as he stung breaks in the first and third game, winning his own serves comfortably to attain a 4-0 lead. However, Gasquet started to bounce back afterwards, grabbing three in a
row to reduce the deficit to 3-4. Nieminen held his serve in the eighth to take the score to 5-3 and get just one short of sealing the contest but he lost four in a row to go down 5-7.
After making a brilliant fight back to grab the second set and take the match to a decider, Gasquet was clearly on top. The Frenchman hit blows to Nieminen in the fourth and eighth, making the most of these two strikes to win 6-2.
It took Gasquet one hour and 56 minutes to clinch victory in a hard fought battle.
Talking to the media people in the post match press briefing, the French number two said, "It's tough to say how I turned it around. I tried to fight. I was playing badly and was frustrated after the first set. He wasn't missing.
At 0-4 [in the second set], I served well on the big points and he got tense. He double-faulted at 5-4, which was the key of the match, and in the third set I played better."
He added, "It was a huge challenge for me and I'm glad I came through, but I really thought I wouldn't make it.”
Gasquet is pitted against his Davis Cup team mate, Gilles Simon, in the title match.
On playing Simon in the final, the 26-year-old stated, “He's my friend and we know each other's games well. At least we know there will be a French winner."
Gasquet, who enjoys a 5-0 head to head lead over Simon, will be looking to capture his seventh tour level title.
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