Fourth seed Richard Gasquet celebrated his 19th birthday by winning his first ATP Tour title with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Max Mirnyi in the final of the Nottingham Open on Saturday.
The French teenager, who was treated to a rendition of Happy Birthday To You by Mirnyi and the centre court crowd, follows in the footsteps of compatriot and world number 26 Sebastien Grosjean who enjoyed his maiden ATP victory in the event in 2000.
Gasquet broke Mirnyi on his first service game. The Belarussian, who used his serve to such good effect against Olivier Rochus in the semi-finals, struggled with it on a breezy, hot day and handed Gasquet the game with his second double fault.
Mirnyi, who took a medical time out after the set for treatment to his right hand, remained out of sorts in the second and was often left stranded by his opponent's beautifully timed groundstrokes.
Gasquet, who came to the fore when he beat world number one Roger Federer on clay in Monte Carlo in April, has grown in confidence on grass.
He reached the quarter-finals at Queen's Club in London last week and is seeded 27th for Wimbledon, which starts on Monday, after losing in the first round there last year.
