Video: Gasquet's MP Winner; Other Highlights from Monday

Eurosport's got a great video wrap of yesterday's action, with interviews as well with Mauresmo, Henin-Hardenne, Jankovic, and more.

Peacemaster's Toronto Final Pics

There are a ton of Federer-Gasquet pics. Thanks, Peacemaster!

It's Roger's Cup; Goodbye Sean

Federer wins it 2-6 6-3 6-2 against Gasquet! That was a HELLUVA match. Gasquet mauled Federer in the first set and I really thought it was going to be a comprehensive beatdown. I know, I know, how silly of me. Props to Federer for scraping out of the first game of the 2nd set from 0-40 down and then raising his game when it mattered. And props to Gasquet for playing such beautiful, beautiful world-beating tennis. And damn ESPN again (a common refrain over here, I know) for not showing the trophy ceremony. ETA: Here's Roger's speech on video and video highlights of the match (Thanks, Mark!)

But on to more important things. The irritating Sean McDonough announced that he's come to the end of his tennis odyssey (or nightmare, for us viewers) with ESPN. He's headed back to Boston and baseball tomorrow.

Two Good Murray, Gasquet Articles

Gasquet eyes another upset of Federer in final
Choice quote: Win or lose, Gasquet, who last year was called "spoiled" and "a little weird" by fellow competitor Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, hopes his strong showing will fuel his momentum for the upcoming U.S. Open.

LOL. You can always count on Ivan for a bitchy frank quote.

And: Murray Bandwagon Blows a Gasquet

Fed vs. Baby Fed for the Rogers Cup

Well, we couldn't have Fedal, but I'll take Gasquet and Federer trading beautiful backhands anyday.

First, Gasquet took out a tired Andy Murray yesterday in straight sets, with a masterful display of his all-court play. You get the feeling that in the next few years as the young guns develop--all of whom have and want more versatile games than the Hewitts and Roddicks of yesteryear--tennis is only going to get much, much more interesting. Power has been tamed, folks. The all-court game is back.

Speaking of which, Fernando Gonzalez has been working on diversifying his options--witness his backhand slice--and the dividends are clearly paying off. After being blown off the court 6-1 in 20 minutes, Gonzo shrugged it off and played some spectacular tennis for 2 sets. Roger did have a few hiccups (as he usually does) and it was good to see a third straight opponent force Roger to dig in and beat him. Bravo, Gonzo! (And bravo, Malisse and Tursunov!) Here's a match review.

Here are audio interviews with Federer, Gasquet, Murray and Gonzalez, an audio wrap of the day, and video highlights.

Gasquet Wins Gstaad; Robredo Wins Bastad

Richard Gasquet's on a serious roll; that's 2 trophies in 3 straight tournaments, on 2 surfaces. He's gotten himself back in the top 50 with a 4 set victory over Feliciano Lopez. Here's a match summary and here are photos of the final. ETA AUDIO: Gasquet's post-match interview / Lopez's post-match interview

Tommy Robredo's just steamrolled Nikolai Davydenko (News/Posts) in Bastad, Sweden for the title, 6-2 6-1. Here's a good match review. ETA: Robredo's post-win video interview / Photos of his win

*Housekeeping Note: I cleaned up the player news site, so please take a look.

Federer v. Gasquet: Live Chat

We'll try an experiment and just see how it goes. Protect your fingernails and type your thoughts here while you watch. This has all the makings of a classic.

Tournament Update

Henin-Hardenne wins Eastbourne in a 3rd set tiebreak over Myskina; Gasquet becomes the first man ever to defend Nottingham with a 6-4 6-3 win over Bjorkman, Michaela Krajicek straight-setted Dinara Safina at Ordina (a day after beating Dementieva! What a week.), and Ancic defended Ordina in 3 sets against Jan Hernych.

Wimbledon Draws are Out!: The Men

And ouch, what a draw it is. Federer's basically got most of the high-end grass courters in his quarter. Gasquet in the first round, or for all you Gasquet fans (myself included), Gasquet's got Federer. Roger could face Timmy Henman in the second round, and Tommy Haas, who just gave Roger trouble in Halle, in the 4th round. Red hot Mario Ancic and iron-serve Ivo Karlovic are at the bottom of Federer's quarter. Nalbandian or Blake in the semis. Sure, you can't bet against Roger, but wow, this is a tough draw.

Nalbandian's draw looks pretty straightforward until Blake in the quarters, but Poor Andy Roddick (and Marat Safin) are in Lleyton Hewitt's section. Andy Murray's in there, too.

Agassi's in Nadal's portion of the draw, so is Feliciano Lopez, his buddy and Wimbledon housemate who made the quarters last year (first Spaniard in 33 years to do so). F-Lo has been having a dismal year and drawing Ivan Ljubicic in the opening round won't necessarily help matters.

ETA: Player Reaction to the Draw

Update on this Week's Tournies

Nottingham: Defending champ Richard Gasquet KO'd  countryman Gilles Simon in 3 and 1; Italian Andreas Seppi beat Andy Murray in 3; Robin Soderling, who has yet to drop a set, over Tipsarevic in 2,  and Bjorkman over Lopez.  I'm gonna go with Gasquet to repeat his win.

At the Ordina Open, Men's, it'll be defending champ Mario Ancic v. Marcos Baghdatis (making his first semi since Australia) and  Jan Hernych vs. Forent Serra (who took out JC Fererro in 3). The women: Elena Demetieva, Danilidou, Dinara Safina and Michaela Krajicek. I'm going with Ancic and Safina.

Eastbourne: It'll be  Henin-Hardenne vs. Clijsters and Kuznetsova v. Myskina. I'm going with Kuznetsova over Henin-Hardenne in the final.

Federer Squeezes Past Gasquet in Halle; Closes in On Borg Grass Streak

Federer just beat Gasquet in 3 very tight sets: 7-6 (7) 6-7(7) 6-4 in 2 1/4 hours. I didn't see it, but word is that Roger's level was high and Gasquet rose to meet the challenge. I hope this performance serves as an ego boost for the struggling, super-talented young Frenchman. ETA: Here's a match summary and Federer's post-match interview.

Federer's now just 3 wins away from matching Borg's record streak on grass. It could be a tall ask: He could have last year's finalist, mad Marat Safin, in the quarters. Here's an article.

Richard, c'est dommage.

Poor Richard Gasquet just lost 6-0 in the 4th to #3 seed David Nalbandian, losing the last point on a double fault. Little Richard had the most forlorn puppy dog look on his face... I hope he bounces back fast. I'll add a match summary link when there is one.

ETA: Here's a match summary.

Nalbandian Vs. Gasquet: 2nd Round

This will be today's marquee match up. Yesterday, you had your pick of that heartbreaker for Marat Safin against Fernando Gonzalez or the battle of the morose teens between Gael Monfils and Andy Murray. Nalbandian should cruise due to Gasquet's recent lack of form, but you can never discount the power of a home crowd and Gasquet's beautiful backhand.

Ace Hot List

Well, the most important tennis rankings are out.

For the men, the Spanish Armada is, of course, well represented in the top 10--  Rafael Nadal, Feliciano Lopez, Juan Carlos Ferrero. And apparently bald is also beautiful, with 2 shiny domes making the cut.

For the women, the top 10 is dominated by the Russians and sort-of Russians: Myskina, Dementieva, Kirilenko, Golovin and Sharapova.

The Women's and Men's Lists

I must say I disagree with the rankings. Ivanovic, Venus, Dementieva and Mirza are IMHO the most beautiful women on tour; and the spaniards should clearly have a lock on the top 4 (Feli first, and where is Moya?), and the absence of Ancic and Nalbandian is obviously poor judgement. (Roddick, top 10? Blasphemy!)

Gasquet Loses in Qualifying, Gets 2nd Chance in Austria; Hewitt is Back

The final tune up before the French Open starts today in Pörtschach, Austria. World number 6 and top seed Nikolai Davydenko is also the defending champion. There are a handful of other big names in action this week--Lleyton Hewitt is finally back, and rising Spaniard/French Open dark horse Nico Almagro, who had to skip Hamburg, is here, too.

The real news is that Richard Gasquet and his beautiful backhand lost in the last round of the qualifiers--to number 312 in the world, Italian Leonardo Azzaro. Poor Richard is having a tough year.

Lucky for him, Rainer Schuttler pulled out so Gasquet got a last minute repreive and has capitalized on his Lucky Loser spot by taking out the third seed Dominik Hrbaty in three sets. He even served up a bagel in the first set, which should boost his anemic confidence this week. Next up is hometown hero Jurgen Melzer.

Other exciting match ups: Lleyton Hewitt and his coach Roger Rasheed are playing doubles against Juan Ignacio Chela and Luis Horna. You may or may not remember the incident during last year's Australian Open, when Chela seemed to spit "in the direction of" Hewitt and Rasheed cornered his team in the locker room after the match. Now if that kind of backstory doesn't bring in the crowds to a first round doubles match, I don't know what will.

Gasquet Out for the Season

Richard Gasquet's 2005 season is finished.  Doctors have told him not to touch a tennis racket for six weeks to rest his injured elbow (yes, it's now an elbow injury again - who knows how it got reported in the English press last week as a wrist injury). 

According to Gasquet's website, he first suffered the injury in Montreal and after the U.S. Open tried resting it for 20 days, but nevertheless the pain reappeared when he returned to competition in Metz last week.

Gasquet expects to resume training at the beginning of December which would put him on track to begin 2006 at full strength, so let's hope everything heals according to schedule.

Gasquet Injured

Gael Monfils won the battle of the teenage Frenchmen today in Metz, defeating the higher ranked Richard Gasquet 7-6(3), 6-2.   

"I am happy about this result.  I, however, don't see it as a revenge from last year.  Richard is my friend and I think and hope we will have many more matches to play against each other," said Monfils.

Gasquet cited an elbow injury when he pulled out of the Thailand Open last week and after this match he had more injury concerns.

From the BBC: Gasquet ponders time on sidelines

"My defeat is not that important, it is the state of my wrist which is important," said Gasquet, who may sit out of the Stockholm event next week...

Gasquet, one of only three men to have beaten world number one Roger Federer this year, first felt the pain in his right wrist during the US Open.

"The pain hasn't disappeared. I will try and not play too much in the weeks to come," he added.

I'm not sure why what was once reported to be an elbow injury is now a wrist injury, but I guess we'll find out about that later.

Gasquet Interview Highlights

According to Richard Gasquet, this loss to Rafael Nadal was all about the heat:

"The pressure wasn't the problem. It's purely physical. I didn't have any problem with the pressure or the tension."

"It was not possible for me today. I could not physically."

"Middle of the second set, it was very hot. I was thinking, 'Two and a half sets more,' or, 'Three sets more,' and it was awful." (That might be a little too much honesty for his own good.)

And when he was questioned about whether it was really necessary to call for the doctor during the match when he didn't have an actual injury, he said, "Well, it was total emergency, I tell you. It was an emergency."

Gasquet was very clear on the difference between Nadal and himself:

"What really bothered me is that he is physically stronger than I am."

"Yes, we have the same age. I think he's much more mature than I am physically. I haven't worked so much on my physical shape. We are the same age and I feel like a junior player and he's like a senior player. He is there 100% physically, which is not my case. I am not ready for such a situation."

I'm always amazed when players aren't in close to the physical shape they need to be in.  That's the only part that doesn't require talent!  But Gasquet is young and just starting to play best-of-five matches - I imagine he'll be hitting the gym real soon. 

Nadal Top Teen

Richard Gasquet has had quite a month - beating Roger Federer in Monte Carlo and then qualifying for Hamburg and going all the way to the final before losing to Federer in a good match, but Rafael Nadal showed him today how far he still has to go to reach the top level of the game when he defeated Gasquet 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in the third round of the French Open.

Gasquet came out a little nervous, but Nadal was ready from the get-go and broke Gasquet in the first game of the match.  Gasquet played pretty well for the rest of the set, sometimes showing the Roger Federer-like shotmaking ability that people talk about, but he was never able to get the break back. 

The two then exchanged breaks to start the second set, but it was all Nadal from there on out.  Gasquet ran out of gas both mentally and physically on another extremely hot day in Paris, calling for the trainer once.  And it was all over in just one hour and 49 minutes. 

So a nice victory for Nadal - he never let Gasquet in the match and gets through without spending too much energy.

As for Gasquet, we'll have to see what he makes of this loss.  He obviously didn't have either the physical or mental reserves he needed today to go toe-to-toe with Nadal for five sets if necessary.  Is he going to develop it or stay one of the many players who never makes the most of his (admittedly incredible) natural talent? 

Nadal-Gasquet

A lot happened on Day 3 at the French Open, but we all know the real purpose of the day was to make sure the third round Rafael Nadal- Richard Gasquet match was set up.  So here's the best preview of the match I ran into.  From the AP: 18 year olds Nadal, Gasquet ready for showdown

My favorite quote from Nadal's interview: "I'm going to try to play my best tennis. If he plays better and wins, you know, that's it. I'll just go home."

Somehow I don't think Nadal is planning on going home quite yet.

Richard Gasquet Article

The Times has a French Open preview article on Richard Gasquet: Prodigious Gasquet has talent to make it to summit

Gasquet talks about his transition from rebellious teen to whatever he is now.  Rock bottom was last year's U.S. Open qualifying when he was disqualified for throwing a racket and nearly hitting a line judge. 

"I was destroyed," said Gasquet. “When you act like an idiot, you don’t do the right things, you don’t practise well, you lose matches. It is a vicious circle. I came back to France and decided to return to zero; I went to the federation and asked Eric Deblicker to help me."

And my favorite quote is here:  "A lot of people think I’m old, that I’m 20 already, but I’m only 18. I made a lot of mistakes last year, but I had the right to do that because I was young. The other players see that I’m not a fantasist any more, that I’m not going to give up. I am arriving in Paris hypermotivated to do well."

Imagine that - as old as 20!  Of course it's all relative in sports. 

And just for kicks, here's the French Tennis magazine cover from when he was 9. 

Richard Gasquet

Speaking of profiles, Richard Gasquet's has been raised considerably since knocking off Roger Federer in Monte Carlo a couple of weeks ago.  That can lead to some awkward situations.  Recently he appeared on a talk show in France and someone forgot to mention to him that the other guest was a porn actress.  "It was a bit embarrassing," said Gasquet. "I don't usually meet people who do that job."  That's good to know, Richard.

Richard Gasquet Videoclip

So was anyone else shocked when French teenager Richard Gasquet defeated Roger Federer in Monte Carlo last week?  I'd heard of him as a promising player when he was 15, but after that there were just tales of coaching changes, teenage rebellion, and even the odd "His personality is wrong for a professional tennis player "  report that I heard once. 

Since I don't get The Tennis Channel I wasn't able to catch his match against Federer and had never in my life seen him play for even a second.  But the ATP has decided to help me out and grant me my first view of Richard Gasquet by making him the Play of the Week videoclip this week. Oddly enough it's not a point from the Federer match, but rather from the Rafael Nadal match which Gasquet lost. 

My conclusion - he's definitely a clay courter.  Gasquet must be 10 feet behind the baseline getting run around by Nadal, but he wins the point by still having the speed and awareness to get to a drop shot that Nadal clearly didn't expect to come back. 

Future French Open champion?  France can only hope.

Nadal Defeats Gasquet in Monte Carlo

From Reuters: Tenacious Nadal Sets Up Coria Final at Monte Carlo

Spain's Rafael Nadal stormed back to beat French sensation Richard Gasquet on Saturday and set up a Monte Carlo Masters final against defending champion Guillermo Coria.

Eleventh seed Nadal, the most consistent player on clay this year, ended Gasquet's amazing run with a 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory in an absorbing battle between the two 18-year-olds.

Gasquet Defeats Federer

From The Independent: Tennis in state of shock as Federer blows a Gasquet

It was supposed to be business as usual yesterday for Roger Federer, the Wimbledon champion, when most of the Principality came to a halt for Prince Rainier's funeral. It turned out to be anything but.

Federer's game was slightly off, probably because of battle-fatigue, and the world No 1 was beaten for only the second time this year - this time by an 18-year-old French qualifier, Richard Gasquet.

Gasquet Defeats Federer in Monte Carlo

From The Telegraph: Federer runs out of steam as Gasquet hits hot streak

The run of dominance from Roger Federer, which had reached ridiculous proportions and the 25-match mark, was ended yesterday by the impudence of youth in the bustling, bounding shape of Richard Gasquet, an 18-year-old French qualifier playing the match of his life. This was no way for Gasquet to treat his boyhood idol, a man he adores so openly.

Gasquet Defeats Federer

From the International Herald Tribune: Gasquet comes of age, beating Federer in Monte Carlo

MONTE CARLO: It was an afternoon of starkly different moods at the Monte Carlo Country Club.

It began in somber quiet with the national flags that stand over center court flapping gently at half-staff and with the footpaths and buffet tables of the club close to empty as employees and early-arriving spectators gathered around television sets to watch the funeral of Prince Rainier III.

But by the time the sun dropped low on the hazy blue horizon provided by the Mediterranean, the atmosphere inside one of sport's most scenic stadiums had turned very festive. Watching a young man come of age can improve one's world view in a hurry, and Richard Gasquet's 6-7 (1-7), 6-2, 7-6 (10-8) upset of the world's best tennis player, which came after he saved three match points in the decisive tiebreaker, was unquestionably a milestone.

Gasquet Defeats Federer!?

From The Guardian: Federer's run blown by Gasquet

Roger Federer's attempt to become the first player to win three back-to-back Masters Series titles was ended by 18-year-old Richard Gasquet in the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters yesterday. The French teenager staved off three match points for a remarkable 6-7, 6-2, 7-6 victory, culminating in a backhand down the line that would have had Rod Laver nodding in appreciation.

Richard Gasquet

Just as everyone was starting to write off his career, another highly-touted junior who couldn't make the transition to the pros, Richard Gasquet reappears.

From The Times: Gasquet begins to display full richness of talent

IT WILL be a day of varied emotions, mixing the solemnity of an era coming to a close with the vibrancy of the blooming of youth. The funeral of Prince Rainier means that the famed avenues of the principality will be shut, flags furled, security will be ultra-tight and any of the 32,000 citizens leaving a dustbin on view will have the offending eyesore pulped.

French interest is guaranteed by the arrival in his first Masters quarter-final of Richard Gasquet, who burst forth here at 16, stilled at 17 and now, nearing 19, is showing the richness of his capabilities once more.

Gasquet, No 101 in the Indesit ATP rankings, defeated Nikolay Davydenko, the Russian at a career-high No 15, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 yesterday, wearing down his foe with an array of shots, especially a single-handed backhand that ranks with the most pleasing on the eye.