Gasquet became famous in France at the age of nine, when Tennis Magazine put him on their cover, with the headline: “Richard G. Nine years old. The champion France has been waiting for?”
Living up to the billing was a daunting assignment.
Aged 12, he beat Rafael Nadal in the junior Les Petits As tournament, but as a professional the head-to-head was 18-0 in Nadal’s favour. He was 2-19 against Roger Federer and 1-13 against Novak Djokovic.
Gasquet won French Open and US Open junior singles titles, and the senior mixed doubles as a 17-year-old at Roland Garros in 2004 with Tatiana Golovin.
He reached three Grand Slam semi-finals, including two at Wimbledon, and won 16 ATP titles, a Davis Cup in 2017 with France and an Olympic doubles bronze at London 2012.
In March 2009, he tested positive for cocaine and was provisionally banned for a year but later cleared, successfully arguing he was unknowingly contaminated after kissing a woman, known as Pamela, in a Miami nightclub.
He reached seventh in the world rankings and matched a Federer record – winning matches in 24 consecutive seasons at ATP level.
But the backhand – that was everything.
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