During his discussion with Nicolas Mahut, Arnaud Clément and Érik Deblicker on behalf of Eurosport where he returned to many moments in his career, Richard Gasquet was necessarily questioned about his confrontations against Rafael Nadal (led 18–0 on the main circuit).
And the Frenchman recognized that he was not at all intimidated during the first duels before, little by little, to make a complex. Extracts.
Nicolas Mahut: “Are you when you played in front of Rafa, you said to yourself: ‘I will find solutions, I will try to win’, or ‘I can win’?” Did you get back on the court with this intention? »»
Richard Gasquet: “Less and less, that’s what is horrible because normally, the more you advance, the more you tell you that you will find the solution. I started my career, I played it the first time in Estoril, I lost 7–6 to the third (6 – in reality, editor’s note). He didn’t scare me at all because I knew him, I played him in challenging once, he had abandoned. After I had beaten him, I trained with him and it was 50–50, I felt that he was not afraid at all. Even in Monaco (in 2005), when he was already monstrous, I knew I could beat him, his game did not scare me at all. After I lost at the Masters, 6–3 in the third (6−4). In Toronto Same, 6–2 or 6–3 in the third (6−1). I lost each time in three sets. And afterwards, the more time passed, the more difficult it became and the more he progressed, more than me. I couldn’t get there and I started to make a big complex. He was just too strong and as soon as I played him, it was too difficult. »»
Posted on Thursday April 17, 2025 at 7:09 pm
