Gasquet beats Brown to set up Montpellier final vs. Mathieu

MONTPELLIER, France (AP) Defending champion Richard Gasquet remains on course to defend his Open Sud de France title after rallying to beat Dustin Brown of Germany 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday, setting up an all-French final against veteran Paul-Henri Mathieu.

Mathieu earlier beat German teenager Alexander Zverev 7-6 (11), 7-5 in a hard-fought match.

Mathieu, who won the last of his four career titles in 2007, had nine aces and withstood 15 from the 18-year-old Zverev, who beat U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic in the second round.

The top-seeded Gasquet, ranked 10th, bids for his 13th career title.

He was in deep trouble but fought back from 3-0 down in the second set as Brown, who fired 17 aces in the match, started to get more nervous approaching victory.