GASQUET LOSES OUT

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 6^th 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.