Gasquet beats Mathieu to retain Montpellier title

PARIS (Reuters) - Richard Gasquet won a 13th career singles title by beating fellow Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-5 6-4 in the Open Sud de France final in Montpellier on Sunday. The top seeded world number 10 appeared to be suffering from abdominal pains and went 3-0 down in the opening set before prevailing. He wrapped up with his first match point when Mathieu sent a backhand just long. "(Mathieu) hit the ball hard, at the beginning I could not compete but then I served much better," said Gasquet, now a four times winner in Montpellier after titles in 2006, 13 and 15. (Reporting by Julien Pretot, editing by Alan Baldwin)