The French may not do well on their home Slam, but they love the hard courts.

In the finals of Bangkok, Gilles Simon took on Richard Gasquet.  In Kuala Lumpur, Julien Benneteau took on Juan Monaco.  Three of the four finalists were French.

Let’s start with Bangkok.  Gilles Simon has been a more successful finalist (winning percentage) than Gasquet and has been ranked higher more recently.  Even so, Gasquet owned a 5-0 head-to-head.  Confidence can often breed better play.  Gasquet is a flashy hitter, often going for big shots on his backhand.  Simon is the steadier player, preferring to move the ball around and goad you into mistakes.  For some reason, that confidence and Gilles Simon being a touch off his game, lead to a 6-2, 6-1 beatdown.  Simon had an early break in the first set, but was immediately broken back.  Gasquet had a break, but Simon broke back in the second, but Gasquet nonetheless ran away with the second set.

In Kuala Lumpur, veteran Benneteau had no ATP titles to his name despite reaching about half a dozen finals, and Juan Monaco made sure he didn’t have one on Sunday, beating him 75 46 63.  This was Monaco’s first hardcourt title.  He had been in the top ten during the clay circuit, but Isner recently moved to 10.  Monaco regained that spot once again with this win.  Less than 200 points separate the two players so Isner could still, theoretically, move back to the top ten.

This week, two ATP 500 events: Tokyo and Beijing.