Gasquet wins singles, R Lindstedt/Jarrko Nieminen take doubles title

Mumbai, Sep 30 (UNI) Top seed Richard Gasquet of France endured a second set challenge by eighth seed Olivier Rochus of Belgium before winning in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 to win the 416,000 US Dollars Kingfisher Airlines Open Tennis tournament at the CCI hard courts here today.

The third seeded pair of R Lindstedt of Sweden and Jarrko Nieminen of Finland defeated the Indo-Pak pair of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam Quereshi in straight sets 7-6(3), 7-6(5) to win the doubles title.

Gasquet got USD 65,850 as prize money for his win, while Rochus had to be satisfied with USD 35,500 as the runner-up.

In the doubles, the winners -- R Lindstedt and Jarrko Nieminen -- took home USD 20,250, while Bopanna and Quereshi had to be satisfied with USD 11,550.

World number 14 Gasquet wrapped up the final in an hour and 26 minutes in humid conditions to win his first ATP title of the season. Wimbledon semi-finalist Gasquet, 21, built on an early break against the eighth-seeded Belgian to win the opening set which featured long baseline battles.

Rochus, playing in his first ATP final of the season, put up a better fight in the second, when the two traded breaks and were three - all at one time.

Gasquet, who beat fellow Frenchman Fabrice Santoro in the semi-finals, broke the Belgian in the seventh game before serving out for the match.

In the doubles final, the third seeds Lindstedt and Nieminen had to endure a strong challenge from Bopanna and Quereshi before winning in an hour and 39 minutes at 7-6(3), 7-6(5).

The first set saw both the pairs unable to break the serve of the other with only one break point, which was earned by the third seeds Lindstedt and Nieminen but saved by Bopanna and Quereshi.

In the first set tie-break, the serve let down Bopanna and Quereshi as they missed a lot of first serves to give the first set to Lindstedt and Nieminen 7-3 in the tie-break.

The second set also saw the same format with both the pairs not being broken to force another tie-break. The third seeds took a 4-1 lead in the tie-break only to see Bopanna and Quereshi fight back to equal the tie-break 5-5.

However, Bopanna and Quereshi lost their serve on the next point for Lindstedt and Nieminen close out the match 7-5 in the second set tie-break and with it the match.

Results (Final): Singles: R Gasquet (France) beat O Rochus (Belgium) 6-3, 6-4.

Doubles: R Lindstedt (Swe)/J Nieminen (Fin) beat Rohan Bopanna (Ind)/Aisam Quereshi (Pak) 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) UNI