NADAL MAKES TITLE ROUND

Rafael Nadal has made it to the title round of the US Open 2013 by defeating Richard Gasquet of France in the semi final. Nadal won the match in the straight sets by 6-4, 7-6(1), 6-2.

Barring a few games in the second set, Nadal was pretty dominating. It took him a little more than a couple of hours to get better of the Frenchman who was given the 8^th seed in this tournament.

Nadal who had lifted the trophy here at Flushing Meadows 3 years back in 2010 has now won 21 successive matches on hard courts.

Talking to the reporters in the post match interview, Nadal said, “I was not here last year and now, to come back this year and make it to the finals, it’s like dream come true. The last couple of weeks have been great.”

“It will be difficult to face somebody like Novak in the final. But, I am up for it.”

In the opening set, Nadal started in a brilliant manner as he sneaked a breakthrough in the very first game and then, held his serve in the next game to take a lead of 2-0. The Spaniard didn’t lose the advantage thereafter and kept on winning his service games to seal the opener by 6-4.

The proceedings in the next set started similarly as Gasquet dropped his serve again in the first game. But, this time, the Frenchman came back and broke Nadal in the 4^th game to make the score 2-2.

There were no breakthroughs in the next 8 games and the set got extended into the tie breaker where Nadal proved his superiority with some thunderous strokes. Gasquet could win just one game in the tie breaker and got down by two sets.

Nadal continued on his merry way in the following set which eventually proved to be the last set of the match. With a couple of breakthroughs, the Spanish maestro clinched it easily by 6-2 and moved into the title round where his opponent will be Novak Djokovic.

GASQUET FACS MONTANES

Richard Gasquet will face Albert Montanes of Spain in the second round of the Vegeta Croatia Open. This will be Gasquet’s first match in the competition as he had received a bye in the opening round.

This has been a mixed season for Gasquet so far. He had made a tremendous start to the season by winning the Exxonmobil Open which was played at Doha. Immediately after that, he won Open Sud de France as well.

But, after that, Gasquet’s form deteriorated. In the next few tournaments, he got defeated at early stages.

Then, in the Sony Open, he had a decent outing.  He reached the semi final round in that tournament, but, after that, he again lost his form. Inconsistency has been the main problem for him this season.

Gasquet has played 43 matches so far this year out of which he has won 32 and has lost 11. He is currently at no. 9 in the world rankings. He would like to put up consistent performances from now on and end the season in top 8 so that he can make it to the ATP World Tour Finals.

As far as Montanes is concerned, he is an experienced player and has a good record on clay courts.

However, he hasn’t been in great form this season. He has played 26 matches thus far this season and has managed to win only 13 of them. His world ranking at the moment is 49.

These two players have played against each other on 5 occasions in the past. All those 5 games have been won by Gasquet.

On the basis of ranking and current form, Gasquet is clearly the favourite in this match, but, Montanes with his huge experience is fully capable of pulling off an upset.

GASQUET MAKES THIRD ROUND

Richard Gasquet has defeated Michal Przysiezny of Poland in the second round of the French Open. Gasquet won the match in the straight sets by 6-3, 6-3, 6-0.

It was a contest completely dominated by Gasquet. He overpowered Przysiezny with his muscular shots.

The Frenchman smashed a total of 39 winners in the match including 9 aces.

Gasquet was in an aggressive mood right from the start of the first set. He got breakthroughs in the 1^st and the 3^rd game and won the first four games consecutively to take a lead of 4-0.

Przysiezny reduced Gasquet’s lead to 4-2 by sneaking a breakthrough in the 6^th game.

The next two games went with the serve and the score was 5-3 in Gasquet’s favour at the end of the 8^th game.

The Frenchman broke Przysiezny’s serve again in the 9^th game and clinched the opening set by 6-3.

Przysiezny couldn’t start well in the following set either. He dropped his serve in the second game to get trailed by 0-2. The next four games went with the serve and at the end of the 6^th game; Gasquet had a lead of 4-2.

In the 7^th game, Gasquet’s serve was broken which brought down his lead to 4-3.

Przysiezny had the opportunity to level the scores by holding his serve in the 8^th game, but, he wasn’t able to do that. He lost his serve for the second time in the set and got down by 3-5.

Gasquet easily served out the 9^th game and won the second set by the same margin of 6-3.

In the third set, Gasquet went absolutely ballistic. With a flurry of winners, he won the first 6 games in a row to register a bagel.

In the next round, Gasquet will face Nikolay Davydenko of Russia.

GASQUET BEATS PAIRE

Richard Gasquet has defeated his countryman Benoit Paire in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters. Gasquet won the match by 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.

Gasquet has come into this tournament with a bit of form. In the Sony Open played a few weeks ago, he had a good outing. The Frenchman had managed to reach the semi finals there. He was expected to dominate in the match against Paire and he began exactly in the same fashion.

In the first set, Gasquet just bamboozled his opponent. Paire managed to hold his serve in the second game of the set, but, after that, he was like a mere spectator. Gasquet was all over him with his powerful shots. He got two consecutive breakthroughs (in the 4^th and the 6^th game) and won the set by 6-1.

The way Gasquet had played in the first set, his fans would have been thinking that he would win the match in straight sets. But, that wasn’t the case to be.

Paire bounced back brilliantly in the second set. Although, he didn’t get a good start as he dropped his serve in the 3^rd game, but, he broke back in the 6^th game and made the score 3-3.

In the 8^th game, Paire broke Gasquet’s serve again and then, by holding his serve in the next game, he sealed the second set by 6-3.

In the third set, Gasquet gathered his focus back and again, demolished his opponent just like the first set. With a breakthrough in the second game, he was off to a lead of 3-0. Paire held his serve in the 4^th game, but, after that, he couldn’t win a game.

Gasquet got another breakthrough in the 6^th game and won the last three games consecutively to wrap up the match.

In the third round, Gasquet will face Marin Cilic of Croatia.

GASQUET THROUGH

Richard Gasquet has defeated Jerzy Janowicz of Poland in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open. Gasquet won the match in the straight sets by 6-1, 6-4.

In the next round, Gasquet will lock horns with Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic for securing a berth in the final 8.

This was a blistering performance by Gasquet. He took just a little more than 1 hour to knock Janowicz out of the tournament.

This was Gasquet’s 20^th match in the ongoing season and he has won 17 out of them. He has already won a couple of titles since the start of the season and he is looking good for the third one here.

After the match, Gasquet said, “The last couple of months have been great for me. I did some hard work during the off season and that’s really helping me now.”

When asked about his opponent, Gasquet said, “I played against him for the first time and I think he is a good player. He played some superb shots in the second set. He is young and his game will develop in the future. He has got a lot of talent; that’s for sure.”

In the first set, Gasquet raced to a lead of 5-0 with breakthroughs in the 2^nd and the 4^th game. Janowicz held his serve in the 6^th game to bring down the lead to 1-5.

The Polish youngster needed much more than a serve hold to repair the damage which was done in the first 5 games. He had to break Gasquet’s serve at least two times to make the set exciting again. That didn’t happen and Gasquet won the set with a serve hold in the 7^th game.

In the second set, Gasquet got only one breakthrough i.e. in the 7^th game. That was enough for him. He held his entire serve and grabbed the second set by 6-4 to earn a place in the 4^th round.

GASQUET WINS OUT

Richard Gasquet has been defeated by his compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round of the Australian Open 2013. Tsonga won the match by 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. With this victory, Tsonga made his way into the final 8.

This was the 8^th match between these two players. In the previous 7 matches, Tsonga had won three and had lost 4.

Tsonga took 2 hours and 20 minutes to win this clash.

Tsonga was off to a fine start in the match. He broke Gasquet’s service in the very first game of the opening set. In the next 8 games, both the players held their serve and at the end of the ninth game, Tsonga was leading by 5-4.

Gasquet desperately needed a breakthrough in the 10^th game to prevent Tsonga from winning the set, but, he didn’t succeed in that. He tried hard and took the score to deuce in the 10^th game. But, Tsonga made the score 40-A with an ace and then, by smashing a forehand winner, he sealed the first set.

In the second set, Gasquet played better. There were no breakthroughs in the first three games and Gasquet was ahead by 2-1 at the end of the third game. Gasquet broke Tsonga’s service for the first time in the match in the fourth game and then, he served out the next game to take a lead of 4-1. He held his remaining serves after that and won the second set by 6-3.

But, in the next couple of sets, Tsonga was on fire. He didn’t drop even a single serve in those two sets. The Big Frenchman broke Gasquet’s service once in the third set and twice in the fourth set to win both the sets and secure his victory.

In the next match, Tsonga will face the world no. 2 Roger Federer.