Gasquet going to be more dangerous than Nadal?

Bogie

Bogie

Hall of Fame
is it just me, or does richard gasquet strike you as the next best all surface player right beside federer. hes gotten to the finals of a clay masters cup, beaten federer on clay, and now, hes in the final of the 10tele.com grass tourny going up against mirnyi. in the semi's, he took out taylor dent on one of, if not his best surface, and we know already by his achievements that he can play on clay. so....judging by what his results have shown us, he is just as dangerous on the slow clay of rolland garros to the fast paced courts of wimbledon. in a few years, i would consider him a SERIOUS threat to win any slam and i think at some point in his career he will be #1. what most people tend to forget is that hes only like 18 years old. in my opinion, he will be more of a threat to federer, safin, etc. on any surface than nadal because nadals game favors pretty much the slower surfaces as his results have shown as well. anyone agree, disagree, have any comments on this? if you disagreed, why?

thanks,
Bogie
 
He had all this potential when he came straight form the juniors. But it was that hiatus that stopped him. I think he will be a top 10 contender very soon.
 
Glad everyone is starting to agree with me about gasquet... A few months ago people were saying he was only a clay court player.. what do you call an all court game?... obviously not just clay.
 
To me, he is one the most dangerous players I've seen
since likes of Sampras, Krajicek and those power players of 90's.

Plus, if you see someone you know win a gland slam,
it suddenly feels like winning a gland slam is in not such
unfamiliar territory. This kind of thing happend with a series
of Chang, Courier, Sampras, Agassi...
 
TwistServe said:
Glad everyone is starting to agree with me about gasquet... A few months ago people were saying he was only a clay court player.. what do you call an all court game?... obviously not just clay.
Click to expand...

I feel like the clay court is not necessarily the best surface
for his game. Once he matured, it may be the least favorite
for the kind of flashy tennis he's playing.
 
I think he has a game that naturally translates better to more surfaces, but I wouldn't say that he will necessarily be better in the end on hard/grass than Nadal. I think Nadal will figure out how to maximize his potential on those surfaces, and Rafa seems to have the knack for figuring out how to win. Thats what really make someone dangerous, that belief that they can beat anyone, anytime, and then the skills to do it. I think Gasquet could be very good though, definite top 5 chance there.
 
I think Nadal shortens up his swings for passing shots robbing off his
opponent's time, for example. Nadal might already know how to
adjust on grass surprisingly better than people might expect...
 
I agree Gasquet has more potential to be an all-surface threat than Nadal. I think Nadal will always specialize on slower surfaces, and will be very little threat on grass, fast hard courts, and indoors.
 
Nadal is a retriever. Gasquet is an all court attacking player. Big difference.

The lefty angles, major topspin and footspeed is what wins Nadal matches, but he's a retriever nonetheless who cannot create plays. A more powerful Hewitt with the same dirty mongrel tenacity and better fist pumps.

Gasquet is an completely different league. I hope his talent matures just like Federer's did in 2001.
 
Bogie said:
... in the semi's, he took out taylor dent on one of, if not his best surface ...
Click to expand...

Off topic, but -
I like Taylor Dent plenty, but his grass court results haven't exactly been... phenomenal. I mean, they are pretty good stuff, but meh. He's inconsistent. He took a loss to Jamie Delgado last year :o

I would suspect that T-Dent is better on a fast indoor surface than he is on grass.
 
When I saw him hit at 15, I knew this kid was going to be good. Kind of like seeing Sampras at 15. I hope he gets stronger, faster, and gets no major injuries. He a little smaller than Federer and Sampras. Needs to get a great coach to teach him the way.
 
What I've seen of Gasquet hasn't impressed me. Nadal impresses me far more - for various reasons.

Of course, I've not seen a whole lot of Gasquet... but still, I'd be rather surprised if he finds his way into the top 10 for any length of time during his career.
 
Defcon said:
Nadal is a retriever. Gasquet is an all court attacking player. Big difference.

The lefty angles, major topspin and footspeed is what wins Nadal matches, but he's a retriever nonetheless who cannot create plays. A more powerful Hewitt with the same dirty mongrel tenacity and better fist pumps.

Gasquet is an completely different league. I hope his talent matures just like Federer's did in 2001.
Click to expand...

I think Nadal's shot making ability is being under-appreciated.
Nadal's just playing more mature game, save offsense shot for
right moments.

And Nadal has more variety of shots right now as Federer mentioned.

Gasquet's talent is clear as fire. Nadal's talent is not that clearly shown
but IMHO he is still definitely very good talent.
 
Gasquet doen't seem as mature as Nadal. But he has more game right now. But then Nadal has lots more game now than he had a year ago. And it's easier to play the Nadal style in a more mature way at a young age than it is the Gasquet style. I hope Gasquet gets to number one and rules the world, or if he doesn't that a player like him does. But if Nadal expands his game, good luck to him.
 
Gasquet won the Nottingham tournament over Max the beast 6-2 6-3. Watch out for Gasquet at Wimbledon. Nadal has not won a grass court tournament yet. If they reach each other in the third round. Gasquet will roll over him at Wimbledon.
 
friedalo1 said:
Nadal has not won a grass court tournament yet
Click to expand...

and its going to be a while till that happens. the problem facing nadal is that if he changes his game to suit himself on grass, he will become much more vulnerable on clay because his current style of play is what is giving him big time wins on clay. if he changes his game to suit himself on grass, he will leave other aspects of his game open for the taking. hes just not as broad a player as gasquet whos game is suited for any and all surfaces. this is just one thing that gasquet holds over nadal and no amount of fist pumps or vamos's are going to change that.
 
Deuce said:
Of course, I've not seen a whole lot of Gasquet... but still, I'd be rather surprised if he finds his way into the top 10 for any length of time during his career.
Click to expand...


Prepare to be surprised. He's top 20 already and with little to defend top 10 this year is looking more and more likely.
 
Hops said:
Prepare to be surprised. He's top 20 already and with little to defend top 10 this year is looking more and more likely.
Click to expand...

took the words right out of my mouth.
 
Deuce said:
What I've seen of Gasquet hasn't impressed me. Nadal impresses me far more - for various reasons.

Of course, I've not seen a whole lot of Gasquet... but still, I'd be rather surprised if he finds his way into the top 10 for any length of time during his career.
Click to expand...

What leads you to this opinion, Deuce? I know some people are jumping overboard on the Gasquet bandwagon, but from what little I've seen of him it seems like he definitely has top 10 potential, and likely even higher. He's one of the few players to have beaten Federer this year, and now in Nottingham he's shown that he can play on all surfaces. What do you think is going to prevent him from being a top 10 player?
 
I wasn't impressed with his shot selection, for one. But, even more than that, I don't think he has the psycological outlook to be top 10. He's 18, and kids that age don't mask their emotions very well. I don't see much self-belief in his eyes, or in his demeanor.

I think what is occurring is that people see a young kid who plays an all-court style - and, because that is so rare today - especially among young players -, people are getting really excited about him - because he is a refreshing anomaly in today's tennis world. That's fine - but from this excitement are coming very high hopes for his future - which I think are born out of an extraordinary hope (and hype), rather than from a realistic view of his true talents.

Time, as always, will tell...
 
Deuce said:
I wasn't impressed with his shot selection, for one. But, even more than that, I don't think he has the psycological outlook to be top 10. He's 18, and kids that age don't mask their emotions very well. I don't see much self-belief in his eyes, or in his demeanor.
Click to expand...

which match(es) did you see, Deuce? If referring to Nadal match at RG - well, Nadal on clay sucks the self-belief out of everyone - even Federer. You'd have to think his confidence otherwise had increased immeasurably from his results the past two months. Interesting that you questioned his shot selection, that was also a crticism levelled at Fed in the early years - a problem of too many options, a problem players with more limited games don't have. Fed has admitted as much, saying early on he would try for the flashy shot, instead of the correct shot. Whether Gasquet will reach the heights of Federer ... one step at a time. He won his first title, that's a start. Earlier than Fed won his first, fwiw.
 
Deuce said:
I wasn't impressed with his shot selection, for one. But, even more than that, I don't think he has the psycological outlook to be top 10. He's 18, and kids that age don't mask their emotions very well. I don't see much self-belief in his eyes, or in his demeanor.

I think what is occurring is that people see a young kid who plays an all-court style - and, because that is so rare today - especially among young players -, people are getting really excited about him - because he is a refreshing anomaly in today's tennis world. That's fine - but from this excitement are coming very high hopes for his future - which I think are born out of an extraordinary hope (and hype), rather than from a realistic view of his true talents.

Time, as always, will tell...
Click to expand...

Okay, I can see that. Good points.

I can't say much about his demeanor or attitude, but I do agree that he was going for pretty crazy shots at time in his match against Federer which he won.

We'll have to wait and see.
 
i think the difference between nadal and gasquet is nadal is more a natural athlete with some talent. gasquet has more natural talent, and some athleticism.
also i think that youd be surprised at the difference in rankings of nadal and gasquet if say the grass/hard season was switched w/ the clay(speaking hypothetically) i think theire rankings would be switched, or at least gasquet would be ahead. heres my point madal is greatest on clay, but can play on grass and hard. gasquet is great on grass/ hard(so far) and can play on clay and make it pretty far. however the majority is played on the worst surfaces for nadal. therefore i see gasquet as passing by nadal in the future.

only time will tell though how he plays against more top players consistently.
 
Gasquet is a natural grass court player. He win his first tournament on grass. He been playing claycourt tennis his whole life. When he steps on grass he win immediately. He has a lot of similarities to Federer. Gasquet is a gifted player. Everything he does is easy for him. He will be a grand slam champion in the near future. How does he win. This kid is just so dangerous, explosive, and hits super angles. Watch out Federer, Riddick, Safin, and Nadal. Theirs a new kid in town.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

flyer
How is Nadal ther one who is "one-dimensional" ?
10 11 12
Replies
552
Views
32K
Lendl and Federer Fan
Lendl and Federer Fan
F
Dangerous floater of FO 2006 ?
Replies
8
Views
1K
BabolatFan
BabolatFan
G
Rafael The Prodigy Nadal
2
Replies
79
Views
6K
Airspun
Airspun
flyer
Why is Nadal playing Rotterham?!?!
Replies
37
Views
4K
Zaragoza
Z
donnyz89
Gasquet, Nadal, Mofils
Replies
12
Views
2K
K!ck5w3rvE
K!ck5w3rvE
Back
Top