Of course, there will always be grumpy people on their sofas to point the finger at a list of winners only made up of ATP 250 tournaments (16 titles). But that would be to forget the player’s exemplary longevity and consistency. Tuesday morning (French time), he was still hard at work in Auckland. Title holder, he played big in New Zealand. But finally beaten from the start by Arthur Fils (6-3, 6-4), he lost a lot. At the next ATP ranking, Richard Gasquet will no longer be in the world top 100 (he will be around 130th place), a first since April 18, 2005. The Frenchman has spent 956 weeks, without interruption, at this level.
In the popular club of 600 victories on the circuit
For those who do not realize how exceptional this longevity is, it must be remembered that even the ogre Novak Djokovic did not do better (11 weeks behind the Frenchman) and that he is just ahead of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. So, of course, there is no Grand Slam trophy on the shelves of Biterrois, but there is nothing to be ashamed of either with four seasons finishing in the top 10 (2007, 2012, 2013 and 2015 ), two qualifications for the Masters (2007, 2013), three finals in Masters 1000 (Hamburg 2005, Toronto 2006 and 2012), two semi-finals at Wimbledon (2007, 2015) and a quarter (2015) and a half (2013 ) at the US Open. Do you want more ? He is part of the club of active players with at least 600 victories on the circuit. A very private club where the other members are Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
A new classification which complicates the rest
Unfortunately, this exit from the top 100 does not bode well for the future. It could even hasten the end of the 37-year-old’s career. No longer appearing in the top 100 means no longer entering directly into the Grand Slam tables. For the Australian Open, he was in the cut at the time the draw was published. For Roland-Garros, there is no doubt that he will benefit from an invitation if his ranking is not sufficient. For Wimbledon and the US Open, on the other hand, it will be more complicated.
Also more complicated for Masters 1000 and other major tournaments. Even if he is a passionate lover of tennis, I’m not sure he takes great pleasure in competing on the secondary circuit at his age. “I didn’t think I could play for so long,” the person confided to ”Ouest-France” in December. It’s clear that I didn’t imagine that. The end always draws nearer, inevitably. » Even more so as you approach forty. But the time has not yet come for the curtain to come down, there is a Grand Slam starting in a few days.
2024-01-09 09:54:27
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