Richard Gasquet, a Frenchman born in 1986, has a highly recognizable SLR in the tennis world, flowing like a smart blade out of its sheath, like a light note beating. Speaking of which, this SLR star is not only 15 days away from Nadal's birthday, but also once a teenager with Nadal's name, and also defeated the world's number one Federer at the age of 18, earlier than Deyo's fame, and was highly expected by the tennis world when he was a child. But, time has shown, there is genius above genius. Being born in an era with a ceiling player like the Big Three is perhaps the Frenchman's greatest misfortune.
He and Nadal are the same Gemini and became famous at a young age
Gasquet was born in France on June 18, 1986, half a month younger than Nadal, his parents are tennis coaches, so he studied tennis with his father at the age of 4, and has been a tennis child star since he was a child. At a very young age, he was discovered by former ATP player Pierre Barthes and began professional training. In 2002, Gasquet won the French Open and US Open Junior Singles Titles in one fell swoop, topping the Junior No.1, becoming the fifth French male player to reach the first place in the Junior World Rankings.
In 2002, Gasquet, who was under the age of 16, turned professional; in April of the same year, he took a wild card to the main tournament in the Monte Carlo Masters qualifier and won the first round, becoming the youngest Masters qualifier in ATP history and the youngest first-time winner of the tour since 1988; in 2003, at the age of 17, Gasquet became the youngest player in at the end of the year-end ranking of 100 in ATP history; in 2005, Gasquet reached the final of the Hamburg Masters at the age of 18 and 331 days , is the fourth youngest player to reach the final of the Masters. At that time, everyone thought that the future OFP tennis world was a double meeting between him and Nadal.
Beat the world number one Federer and make a splash
Speaking of which, this talented teenager became famous earlier than Djokovic. In the quarter-finals of the 2005 Monte Carlo Masters, the 18-year-old Gasquet ranked only 101, and defeated the world number one Federer in the deciding set, ending the record of 25 consecutive wins on the Fei Tianwang Tour and becoming famous. A beautiful SLR in one hand, stunning the tennis world.
15 embarrassing 250 championships
In 2005, on his 19th birthday, Gasquet won his first tour title at the ATP250 Nottingham Open; today, the 35-year-old Gasquet has won 15 titles, but all of them are 250 titles, far from the original expectations of fans. He reached the Masters final at the age of 18, but in the years when the Big Three or the Big Four ruled, the Masters were as difficult as winning a Grand Slam title, and 17 years later, he has not been able to get a Masters title.
The public servant of the Big Three
His entire career peak coincided completely with the Big Three, completely suppressed. Gasquet has played against the Big Three a total of 52 times, with 3 wins and 49 losses: 2 wins and 19 losses against Federer, 0 wins and 17 losses against Nadal, and 1 win and 13 losses against Djokovic. Gasquet's most eye-catching performance is to reach the final four of the Grand Slam three times, namely Wimbledon in 2007, the US Open in 2013 and Wimbledon in 2015, all three times he lost to the Big Three; he reached the Masters final three times, unfortunately, Hamburg lost to Federer in 2005, Lost to Federer in Canada in 2006, and Lost to Djokovic in Canada in 2012, also lost to the Big Three.
Career highest NO.7
Gasquet is 183cm tall, single-handed, dexterous and changeable, and has reached the 7th place in his career. In 2007, he beat Murray and entered the year-end finals held in Shanghai as the top eight at the end of the year. In April 2018, Gasquet won his career 500th, becoming the first Frenchman to win 500. 500 wins is not easy among active players, and as of the end of the Monte Carlo Masters in April 2022, Gasquet has 568 wins, second only to Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray.
The meeting of two generations of teenage geniuses
In July 2021, in the final of the ATP 250 Umag Tournament, 35-year-old veteran Gasquet was swept by Spain's 18-year-old talented youngster Alcaraz in the second set. The two generations of young geniuses who are widely optimistic in the industry meet like fate, which makes people even more sorry for the veterans. After the game, Gasquet said " I can't play with his level and intensity " , expressing Twilight's helplessness. As he said in an interview with The Team Newspaper: "I envy young players like Berrettini now who don't have to face the repression of the Big Three throughout their careers. "There are three big three, and then there are small big three or even younger post-00s, 20 years of career but without any 500 and above level championship titles, so the encounter with Gasquet, it is touching and sad.
The handsome teenager who is like an arrow in time and wantonly free has now become an uncle who is about to turn 36. Once a young genius in the eyes of everyone, the most golden career was suppressed by the big three. The youthful spirit has long been worn out, and a Grand Slam final or even a Masters final has become a luxury. Now plagued by injuries, the ranking has dropped to 80 miles away, Gasquet's love for tennis has not diminished, and the SLR is still tigerish, old and strong.
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