Richard Gasquet has won the Qatar Open by defeating Nikolay Davydenko of Russia in the final match. Gasquet won the match by 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3. It was a close contest and at one point of time, the match seemed to be going out of the reach of Gasquet, but, the Frenchman held his nerves and made a fantastic comeback. This was the eighth title won by Gasquet in his career.
Gasquet didn’t have a good start in the match. His service was broken in the first and the third game of the opening set and at the end of the third game; he was down by 0-3. He didn’t manage to recover from that stage and lost the first set by 3-6.
In the second set, the first four games went with the serve and the scores were levelled at 2-2 at that stage. Davydenko managed to sneak a breakthrough in the fifth game and got ahead by 3-2. But, unlike the first set, he lost the advantage soon as his service was broken by Gasquet in the sixth game and the scores got levelled. The next six games went with the serve and the set went into the tie breaker in which Gasquet completely outplayed his opponent and won the second set.
In the third and final set, Gasquet was at his best. He broke Davydenko’s service twice and took a lead of 5-2. Although Davydenko got a breakthrough in the eighth game, but, that didn’t make much of a difference. Gasquet got yet another breakthrough in the ninth game and walked away with the victory.
In the post match interview, Gasquet said, “I couldn’t have thought of a better start of the season than this. It’s a perfect start of the season for me. Today, I wasn’t quite up there at the start, but, I recovered well and I am quite happy with my overall performance in the tournament.”
Richard Gasquet has been defeated by Kevin Anderson of South Africa in the second round match of the BNP Paribas Masters. Anderson won the match by 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-1. With this victory, Anderson has made his way into final 16. This was the fourth match between these two players and surprisingly, Gasquet has lost all those matches. However, Anderson didn’t manage to walk away with the victory easily. He had to face a tough competition from the Frenchman for 2 hours and 17 minutes.
In the first set, neither of the two players managed to get a breakthrough in the first 12 games and the scores were tied at 6-6 at the end of the 12th game. Both the players got quite a few break opportunities, but, they weren’t able to cash on any of them. Gasquet got a total of four break points, while, Anderson got a couple of break points. In the tie breaker, Gasquet got nervous and played some ordinary shots. He lost some early points which allowed Anderson to seal the set.
The start of the second set was pretty similar to the first one. The first eight games went with the serve. But, in the ninth game, Gasquet got a breakpoint and he didn’t miss out on that occasion. He capitalized on that break point and got ahead by 5-4. He easily served out the next game and won the second set.
But, in the final set, Anderson was all over Gasquet. The South African played with a brutal approach and won the first 5 games consecutively. Gasquet managed to hold his service in the 6th game, but, that was not going to make any difference. Anderson finished the match with a serve hold in the next game.
In the third round, Anderson will take on Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic.
Richard Gasquet has been defeated by Ze Zhang of China in the second round of the China Open. Zhang won the match by 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. With this victory, he has made his way into the quarterfinals of the competition.
Zhang has been given entry into this tournament through wild card. He had performed well in the first round match, but, the second round match was going to be very tough for him as he was going to face Richard Gasquet who came into this tournament after winning the Thailand Open. Gasquet was expected to go past Zhang with ease, but, the 22 years old Chinese youngster backed himself and pulled off a great upset.
After winning the match, Zhang said, “I came into the match as an underdog. I had nothing to lose. Everybody was expecting Gasquet to win the match. So, I played without any pressure. I tried to keep myself composed and that paid off. I am delighted to have defeated a top quality player like Richard.”
On the other hand, Gasquet hailed Zhang for his calm attitude in the match. The Frenchman said, “Zhang was fantastic in today’s match. He is a talented youngster who has got a very cool head on his shoulders. He served well and was superb from the baseline. He deserved to win the match.”
Both the players held their service in the first 8 games of the first set. But, Zhang sneaked a breakthrough in the ninth game and then, sealed the set by serving out the 10th game.
Gasquet made a comeback by winning the next set. The Frenchman started well in the final set as well and won the first two games. But, he lost the momentum after that. His service was broken in the 4th and the 10th game and he lost the match.
In the quarter final match, Zhang will play against Florian Mayer of Germany.
Richard Gasquet has been defeated by Milos Raonic of Canada in the opening round of the Western and Southern Open at Cincinnati. Raonic, who is the highest ranked Canadian player in official rankings of WTA, won the match in the straight sets by 7-6(4), 6-3. Gasquet has been in fine form recently and had reached the finals of the Rogers Cup a few days ago. He was expected to win this match easily, but, that didn’t happen and the Frenchman was stunned by Raonic. The Canadian player used his power to good effect and banged 12 aces in the match.
In the first set, both the players held their entire serves and the set went into the tie breaker. Gasquet was rattled by the powerful shots of Raonic in the tie breaker and lost the first set by 7-6. In the second set, the Canadian played with even more aggression. In the first 5 games of the second set, both the players held their service and the scorecard was saying 3-2. Raonic broke Gasquet’s service in the 6th game to take the lead of 4-2. Raonic maintained the lead till the end of the second set and won the match.
In the post match interview, Raonic told the reporters that he is happy to have started the tournament with a fantastic win, but, he could have played a lot better. There are still rooms for improvement in his performance. He has to work a bit on his forehand shots. He would like to perform better in the further matches. As per Raonic, Gasquet played very well in the first set, but, in the second set, he looked a bit tired and there was not much power in his shots. In the second round, Raonic will play against Marcos Baghdatis of Cypriot.
Richard Gasquet has been beaten in the second round of the Men’s tennis singles tournament of London Olympics by Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus. Baghdatis won the match in the straight sets by 6-4, 6-4 and the match was over in just 74 minutes. Baghdatis literally thrashed Gasquet in the match. Gasquet found it extremely difficult to control the powerful service of Baghdatis. The Cyprus player fired 14 aces in the match.
Both the players started the match well and at the end of the eighth game of the first set, the score was 4-4 and none of the two players was able to get a breakthrough till then. But, Gasquet couldn’t hold his service in the next game and Baghdatis got a golden opportunity to win the first set. He grabbed that opportunity with both hands and won the set by holding his service in the 10th game. The story of the second set is similar to the first one. In the second set also, Baghdatis broke Gasquet’s service once and then kept the lead till the end to win the match.
Baghdatis was looking very happy at the end of the match. In the press conference after the match, he said that he is pretty satisfied with his service today. As per Baghdatis, when you play against an experienced player like Gasquet, it becomes very important to play aggressive tennis right from the beginning. He kept Gasquet under pressure throughout the match. According to Baghdatis, he still can’t believe that he is the final 16. In the third round, Baghdatis will play against the British superstar Andy Murray.
On the other hand, Gasquet was gutted after losing the match. The disappointment could be seen on his face. On being asked about the match, Gasquet said that a few minutes of weak tennis cost him the match.
Richard Gasquet has defeated Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan in the second round of the Rogers cup. Gasquet, who has been given 14th seed in this competition, looked in fine form and defeated Kukushkin easily in the straight sets by 6-3, 7-5. Gasquet took just 85 minutes to knock the Kazakhstan player out of the tournament.
Both the players made a good start and held their service in the first five games. But, Gasquet broke the service of Kukushkin in the sixth game and then held his service in the next game to make the score 5-2. He didn’t lose the advantage after that and held his service in the ninth game to win the first set by 6-3. Read more »
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January 15, 2013 3:31 pm | 
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