After serving for the match, Richard Gasquet loses to Andrey Rublev in the second round of the Marseille Open 13
Richard Gasquet (35, 76th) may be disappointed with the result – a defeat (4-6, 6-3, 7-6 [3]) after having served for the match – against Andrey Rublev (24 years old, 7th), but he will not have the right to be disappointed by his performance. Because for 2h27, he did not look his age and played much better than his ranking. Rublev, he was not at the party and will surely remember this first confrontation with the old French grognard.
Faced with Rublev, monomaniac of rhythmic striking, the question was to know how Gasquet imagined the match. The fear, of course, was to see the Biterrois explode in flight by suffering the strikes of his opponent. The Gasquet of 10 years ago, often too passive behind his baseline, would probably have been scattered like a puzzle. But, at 35, the one of 2022 knows that he can no longer keep up with the pace of the youth who monopolize the world top 10.
With a white break from the first game of the match, Gasquet was then able to impose his own rhythm. He tried to shorten the exchanges, not to get into the rhythm of the Russian, to make him move to prevent him from shifting on the forehand and to direct the exchanges. And it worked. With 84% of points behind his first ball, Gasquet was able to protect himself and maintain his advantage.
Unfortunately for him, he did not know how to push the Russian into his torments. Because when he is led and without solutions, Rublev often begins to doubt, even if it means scuttling himself. But this time he held on. Gasquet blamed the blow for the debauchery of energy granted to win the hard-fought first set and Rublev rushed into the breach. The only break of the set was to his credit and he was down to one set everywhere. The best was yet to come.
Gasquet lacks cash at the end, but no character
Grimacing, his hair messy, Gasquet had not given up the fight. From the start of the last set, he pushed Rublev to his limits. The Russian had to save four break points to come back to 1-1. It was one of the turning points of the game. Gasquet did not know how to seize his chance as much as Rublev knew how to make the decision on the important points.
Tested, the world No. 7 was the first to give up his service. Stunning, Gasquet had pulled out all the moves from his palette. But when it came to serving for the match, at 5-3, he stalled. By leading twice 30-0 then 0-30, Gasquet showed his physical limits. Able to shine, but no longer finish games.
Another break gave Rublev the chance to serve for the game. Once again, Gasquet showed character to push back the deadline and get the tie-break. Alas, the tank was empty and Rublev was not threatened in this decisive game. “His level was so good that he should have deserved to win as much as me”, let go of the Russian, a handsome player, who will oppose Lucas Pouille or Radu Albot in the quarters. What is certain is that this Gasquet, we are in no hurry to see him retire.