MONTPELLIER: French tennis number one Lucas Pouille clinched his fifth career ATP title on Sunday with a 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 defeat of compatriot Richard Gasquet in the Montpellier final.
Three-time former champion Gasquet reached the final of the event for a sixth straight year, but the 31-year-old finished runner-up for the second time in a row following his 2017 defeat to Alexander Zverev.
Pouille, who sealed the Davis Cup for France in last year's final, missed his country's first-round victory over the Netherlands in Albertville last week with a neck injury.