Richard Gasquet Playing for Second Title in 2013

[zagor]

Originally Posted by vive le beau jeu !

impressive start for richie with titles at doha and montpellier !
15-1 so far this year (losing to tsonga at the AO)

for the moment tsonga is the only player of the top 30 he had to play, but still... it can only be good for his confidence.

Yeah but he beat Kolja in Doha who was definitely playing top 10 level tennis (he routinely beat world #4 Ferrer on the way to the final) and he also showed remarkable mental strength (for his admittedly low standards) in that match.

[gavna]

Originally Posted by romeo8880

Forgive me for my lack of knowledge here, but how is gasquet on clay throughout his career? Does he enjoy the red stuff?

Yes....he grew up on clay at his father club - and like just about any French player spent most of his training on the red stuff.

He's won some clay court titles - French Open mixed Doubles in 04, Singles titles in Nice in 2010 and Gstaad back in 2005 and has made 7 or 8 Clay singles finals overall.

[The Bawss]

Originally Posted by romeo8880

Forgive me for my lack of knowledge here, but how is gasquet on clay throughout his career? Does he enjoy the red stuff?

Good enough to have to resort to a huge choke to lose against Murray in 5 at the 2010 RG. He also beat roger on clay twice I think. Boy can play on the red stuff.

[fuzzyball]

Originally Posted by gavna

just about any French player spent most of his training on the red stuff.

So untrue...

[joeri888]

Originally Posted by fuzzyball

So untrue...

I dont see tsonga or Simon practicing on clay all the time.

[Phonco]

Gasquet is pretty good on clay. He was one of four people to hand prime Federer a loss back in '05. His losses at RG were usually, if not always, from top players i.e Djokovic and Murray*.

[tacou]

way to go gasquet

[gavna]

Originally Posted by fuzzyball

So untrue...

ALL players that go via the FFT system and invited to get national training train on ALL surfaces but clay is the predominant courts at both main training sites at RG and at Nice.

They have Hard, Hard Indoor, Clay Indoor........but clay courts dominate......

[gavna]

Originally Posted by joeri888

I dont see tsonga or Simon practicing on clay all the time.

When both were developing and part of the FFT Natl system they damn well did......easy that 80 to 90% of heir time on court was on clay.

Today???? Both live in Switzerland as does Gasquet and Monfils and which ever courts they use to practice close to home are most likely red clay. I've played in and around Geneva and Basel and Verbier and even the indoor courts are red clay.

[gavna]

Originally Posted by tacou

way to go gasquet

Super start of the season so far........now to see what he does in Rotterdam, IW and Miami where in the past he likes playing and has had some good results.

[fuzzyball]

Originally Posted by gavna

ALL players that go via the FFT system and invited to get national training train on ALL surfaces but clay is the predominant courts at both main training sites at RG and at Nice.

They have Hard, Hard Indoor, Clay Indoor........but clay courts dominate......

No it does not. It would bore me too much to explain the true place of red clay in French tennis, but there is a reason why you rarely see (should I better say never?) an ATP top 100 french player with a game build to specifically shine on clay, as opposed to many spanish or south american players, (and please don't misunderstand me, I don't say that all spaniards or south americans are only clay specialists).

[Drrjjj]

maybe he can kick tipsarevic out of the 9 spot...

[Fiji]

Gasquet's 2013 looks to be a good season. Probably will go deep at Wimbledon.

[Beryl]

Gasquet will lose in the 4th round of every slam he enters for the rest of his career.

[3fees]

Congrats to Gasquet

[Relinquis]

Solid win.

Gasquet will make a quarter final of a slam, if not further, this year. I have a good feeling.

Does his forehand seem loopier than usual to you guys?

[welcome2petrkordaland]

love to watch gasquet but kinda see his potential for greatness similar to stan wawrinka's. it's all about their forehand and mental toughness. WHEN those 2 factors are working (ie wawa's 12-10 in the fifth 5-setter vs. joker aussie '13) both gasquet and wawrinka are tough to deal with.... huge backhands, good hands, nice slice, underrated serves (wawa's is bigger obviously). there's nowhere to go against them.

the differences betw. the 2 are wawa attacks more and toes the baseline whereas gasquet tends to hang back and counters more from behind baseline.
when they go big on the fh side, they take it to a higher level.

gasquet's mental fortitude lately looks great and he also seems very fit. the way he came back and took down davydenko in that final on a fast hard court was remarkable. gasquet came in at the right times, didn't stay back the whole time. this is key for ritchie imo.

wawrinka had joker in the 1/4s and should've won that 2nd set. as good his bh is, he IMO should have gone to the slice SLIGHTLY MORE vs. joker at that crucial juncture when joker got in lockdown mode. the one hander IMO in inherently geared more towards shotmaking and if after 4,5, or 6 consecutive topspin strokes, it is not disrupting or doing damage, a player should use the slice/change the pace/direction. this is what i think. if you remember, wawrinka missed a few bhs by a couple of inches at crucial pts. sorry to digress from OP's topic.

looking forward to seeing how gasquet's year is (as well as stan the man's)

[pingu]

Really glad to see Gasquet won. He seems to be in his best shape ever.

[President]

Gasquet looking good, will win RG 13???

[ultradr]

He would have done much better in any era in tennis history before 2003.