Richard Gasquet

K

Keep Right On.

New User
I understand he has one of the best backhands on the ATP circuit, but can anyone give me more information on this guy. I'm new here and only been seriously watching Tennis for about two years now. For example, what's his best surface? Best performance? How goods his forehand, serve, footspeed? etc
He has massive potential and is a very exciting player to watch (in my opinion) but will he always remain unfulfilled potential? His game against Gonzalez was epic!
 
Cesc Fabregas

Cesc Fabregas

Legend
His best surface is grass, best performance probably Roddick at wimby in 07, his forehand is awful, his serve is average, footspeed ok and he has the mental strength of a wine gum.
 
M

miyagi

Professional
Gasquet is a nice player.....when he is on his backhand is better to watch than anyone else in the game....but he is just not mentally tough....he doesn't seem to have the capacity to dig deep.

Forehand is pretty flat and fairly good (when on) and his net game is very nice too he has the ability to serve and volley unlike a lot of players out there today.

I like him...but dont expect him to win a major anytime.
 
M

miyagi

Professional
Keep Right On. said:
Wine gum eh?

So is he the kind of player to throw a two set lead against a lesser seeded player away?
Click to expand...

LOL....I dont know if he has EVER won a 5 setter....and plenty he has been 2 sets up, watch his match against Murray 08 in wimbledon.

His match against Gonzales was kind of a rarity even though he lost he didn't just crumble....and throw the match away...
 
ruerooo

ruerooo

Legend
Richard was a junior champion and a serious rival of Rafa's when they were both juniors, around 15. His backhand was compared to Roger's so frequently, one of his nicknames was "Baby Fed".

There are some nice videos of Rafa & Roger playing in Shanghai (2006 I think) and Richard & Roger playing at Wimbledon -- but the thing about Richard is that he tends to come on gangbusters for the first set and then just ... seem to lose it.

There are also opinions that before Simon came on and while Tsonga was out, Richard was the top player in France, so he really didn't have a lot of incentive to work hard to do better.

Maybe he needs to switch sponsors and have a session with Gil Reyes ...
 
Tempest344

Tempest344

Professional
miyagi said:
LOL....I dont know if he has EVER won a 5 setter....and plenty he has been 2 sets up, watch his match against Murray 08 in wimbledon.

His match against Gonzales was kind of a rarity even though he lost he didn't just crumble....and throw the match away...
Click to expand...

Against Roddick he won in 5 Wimby 07
 
T

Tennis360

Semi-Pro
Richard is one of the most talented players out there. I love watching this young boy - he's not called "baby fed" for nothing......although he hasn't won masters series shield yet, he has been in 2 Masters series final twice against Federer (in his prime) in Hamburg and in Toronto in 2006. If it was not against fed in his prime, he would have probably won a master's title already. he's also one among the very few active players who has won titles in all surfaces - grass (Nottingham 2005, 2006), carpet (Lyon 2006), HC (Mumbai 2007), clay (Gstaad 2006). I would say, his best surface is Grass - - as he reached his first ever GS SF wimby 2007 and became top 7 in the world after that - his career high ranking, also first time to have played in TMC in Shanghai...

I love his glorious backhand - it's a work of art (really priceless)....I would say, best match he's ever played was probably QF wimby 2007 against Roddick and perhaps, Monte Carlo 2005 match against Federer.....his match against gonzo at the AO tells me he's back in form and has improved his mental fortitude - an area where he is widely criticized (including FH). As a proud supporter, I only hope best time is yet to come....and big titles will be around the corner....:)
 
6rump

6rump

Rookie
Now i notice someting "new" on Gasquet game... His Serve was improving (around 230 km), and now he seems to has a good forehand, eventhough his forehand sometimes bit too short but his full FLAT forehand is one of the best.....
 
thejoe

thejoe

Hall of Fame
6rump said:
Now i notice someting "new" on Gasquet game... His Serve was improving (around 230 km), and now he seems to has a good forehand, eventhough his forehand sometimes bit too short but his full FLAT forehand is one of the best.....
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230kmh? Thats about 140mph. I don't think so. And his forehand is still appalling.
 
Tempest344

Tempest344

Professional
thejoe said:
230kmh? Thats about 140mph. I don't think so. And his forehand is still appalling.
Click to expand...

No he's right
Seeing him play in Sydney and there were serves getting well in to the 220s
definately has improved the speed on it
 
Last edited:
P_Agony

P_Agony

Banned
Keep Right On. said:
I understand he has one of the best backhands on the ATP circuit, but can anyone give me more information on this guy. I'm new here and only been seriously watching Tennis for about two years now. For example, what's his best surface? Best performance? How goods his forehand, serve, footspeed? etc
He has massive potential and is a very exciting player to watch (in my opinion) but will he always remain unfulfilled potential? His game against Gonzalez was epic!
Click to expand...

Gasquet is quite possibly the biggest choker in Men's tennis. He's also my favorite player along with Federer. He has a great BH which is beautiful to watch, along with a nice forehand and a decent serve. He needs to be more consistent and he needs to develop a fighting spirit, and fast. Time is running out.
 
oranges

oranges

Hall of Fame
orangettecoleman said:
he has an amazing backhand and ok footspeed. everything else is pretty bad.
Click to expand...

He's was in top 10 for practically all serve related stats in 2008. 99 percent of the tour would love to have those volleys and transition game. Should we get into fine details like court awareness or is this enough?
 
T

thetennistimes

New User
He does love the grass. He has a big forehand but makes a huge amount of errors. His backend is just very solid and never seems to miss. His serve is average compared to the rest of the tour. However, as mentioned above his mental strength is terrible, probably the worst on tour. But then again he is French!!
 
oranges

oranges

Hall of Fame
^^ Verdasco was far worse in mental strength department until only a few months ago. I was surprised he managed to win Umag against injured Andreev with two breaks up in the final set, but he squandered only one break.
Gasquet doesn't have a big FH, he can hit some amazing winners with it, but overall, as a rallying shot, it's his greatest liability. Once again, he has a very good serve for a while now, Are you guys watching tennis at all or just making random statements.
 
M

mixertefera

Rookie
Gasquet forehand is interesting to say the lest and his serve is very good so wake up and pay attention... no need to even talk about his backhand
 
DarthFed

DarthFed

Hall of Fame
Tempest344 said:
No he's right
Seeing him play in Sydney and there were serves getting well in to the 220s
definately has improved the speed on it
Click to expand...

Richie clocks out at 217 or so....

230? Roddick hardly hits 230 these days, 232=142 MPH....

217=134-135

Still he hits it bigger that Fed..who clocks out out at about 210 (130)
 
C

Cloudy

Semi-Pro
I think he has a winning game but a losing mentality. If he ever gets his **** together he could be great but I'm not sure its going to happen. However I expect him to improve his ranking drastically this year seeing as he had a crap clay season last year and didn't win a title. When he is on he could beat anyone bar possibly Nalbandian who seems to be his nemesis.

His best surfaces are grass - still wouldn't surprise me if he won wimbledon one day he has the game for it. And he plays very well on clay on rare occassions.

I just wish he would believe in himself.
 
D

Deleted member 25923

Guest
oranges said:
^^ Verdasco was far worse in mental strength department until only a few months ago. I was surprised he managed to win Umag against injured Andreev with two breaks up in the final set, but he squandered only one break.
Gasquet doesn't have a big FH, he can hit some amazing winners with it, but overall, as a rallying shot, it's his greatest liability. Once again, he has a very good serve for a while now, Are you guys watching tennis at all or just making random statements.
Click to expand...

Yeah, his serve is very good. I was watching it at Sydney, and it was pretty big. His motion is very simple as well. It's his court positioning and mental strength that hurts him.
 
O

oneleggedcardinal

Guest
Great player, I love to watch him play and would probably have to say that he's one of my favorite, if not most favorite, active players.
 
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