Gasquet puts France ahead in Davis Cup

CLERMONT FERRAND, France, Feb 9 (Reuters) Richard Gasquet put France ahead in their Davis Cup world group tie against Romania today with a 7-5 6-2 6-2 win over Romania's Victor Hanescu.

The 20-year-old world number 16 took 93 minutes to overcome the Romanian whose ranking has dropped to 755 after a back injury last year.

The second singles rubber of the first-round tie later today pits Romania's top player Andrei Pavel against Sebastien Grosjean.

REUTERS SAM RAI2137