NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) _ Richard Gasquet beat Jonas Bjorkman 6-4, 6-3 Saturday to win the Red Letter Days Open, the first player to successfully defend his title at this Wimbledon warmup.

Gasquet has a tougher assignment Monday for the start of Wimbledon _ a match against top-ranked Roger Federer.

``It's really exciting to play on the centre court and it's a dream to play Roger,'' the 20-year-old Frenchman said. ``It's historic for me.''

Bjorkman, a 34-year-old Swede, won the Nottingham title in 1998 and 2002. Gasquet joins Greg Rusedski (1997, 2003) and Bjorkman as the only two-time winners of this grass-court tournament.

``I'm very happy with my week, I came up short today against the future,'' Bjorkman said. ``I realized I'm a bit old today against Richard.''

Gasquet pushed Bjorkman in the third game of the first set. But the Frenchman couldn't come through despite two break points, with Bjorkman relying on experience to keep Gasquet running.

``I played a perfect match because I started really good, so it was a great final for me,'' Gasquet said. ``I played good with my forehand and it was maybe the key.''

Bjorkman repeatedly came to the net, using his serve-and-volley game. Gasquet said the turning point was a break point in the ninth game of the first set.

``I was really concentrated and after that I had a lot of confidence for the rest of the match,'' he said.

Under pressure, Bjorkman pushed shots long and wide. Gasquet caught him coming to the net with a forehand down the line to take the first set 6-4.

In the fifth game of the second set, Gasquet smashed a forehand winner that overpowered Bjorkman at the net. The break point put him in control at 3-2.

Gasquet rolled from there, with a crisp backhand to the corner, a soft drop shot and an ace putting him ahead 4-2. He smacked a backhand down the line to go ahead 5-3 before breaking Bjorkman for the third time to seal the victory.