Richard Gasquet turned pro in 2002 and I have watched probably well over 50, maybe nearly 100 of his ATP matches on TV and live at Miami Open, US Open and Washington DC.
Today the veteran Frenchman did something I have never seen him do before – he smashed his Head racquet at Internazionali d’Italia Rome in the loss to Yibing Wu.
It was the 23 year old Wu’s first ever ATP clay court match win. The Chinese player is ranked 57 in the world, just a few notches below the 36 year old Gasquet’s 44.
Wu has only won 14 career ATP matches, compared to Gasquet who has won 16 career ATP singles titles among his 598 match victories.
Gasquet is normally a mild mannered, generally stoic competitor, so to lose to a neophyte like Wu on clay must have irked his ego considerably. Wu won the Dallas 250 title in February but has struggled since that win, going 2-4 since including a three match losing streak. Gasquet also won a title in January in Auckland.
So today we saw one of the finest, most well-behaved sportsman of the ATP snap mentally for a split second, for perhaps the only moment in his professional career where he lost his renowned composure.
Moral of the story is the combination of elegance, violence and pressure of tennis can drive anyone crazy, even a classic cool character like Richard Gasquet.
France · Head tennis · Richard Gasquet · Rome · Yibing Wu
Scoop Malinowski · May 11, 2023 at 10:19 am
Witness said Raging Richard actually smashed two Heads yesterday.
Scoop Malinowski · May 11, 2023 at 12:54 pm
Opelka on Djokovic: “He puts himself in danger and I respect that, partly because the media has never given him a fair share; he doesn’t play the game of what they want to hear. He is therefore the enemy of the tennis media.”
Jon Worstheim tried to say the tennis media doesn’t have a bias against Novak Djokovic. That was maybe the worst lie of the century