2011 BNP Paribas Open – ATP Seeds Part XVI: Richard Gasquet
World Number 21 Richard Gasquet
At World Number 21, Richard Gasquet is one of the higher-ranked players on the Association of Tennis Professionals these days. Although his rank has gone considerably low these days, he was once ranked as high as World Number 7
at one point in 2007. However, he is still ranked high enough to be seeded at the 2011 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells.
Gasquet is 24 years old, and has been playing in a professional capacity since 2002. He has spent almost nine years as a pro tennis player. A right-handed player, he is most well-known for his one-handed backhand down the court.
He is currently coached by Eric DeBlicker.
The French player has competed at the Indian Wells tournament five times before this, making a remarkable debut in 2006. He participated as a seeded player that year as well, and defeated players Kevin Kim and Dominik Hrbaty to
reach the fourth round against Roger Federer. The Swiss Maestro ended his run at this stage of the tournament, and Gasquet has never been able to make it past the fourth round.
In 2009, Richard Gasquet participated in the tournament as a seeded player yet again. He was ranked World Number 24 at the event that year, and received a bye into the second round. His first match was against then-World Number
90 Michael Llodra of France. Llodra, who is coached by former Women’s Tennis Association [WTA] pro, could not produce results and went down to his fellow countryman in straight sets with a bagel. Gasquet’s next match was against Spanish World number 9 Fernando
Verdasco, who defeated him in straight sets.
Richard Gasquet’s most recent showing at the tournament was in 2010, when his ranking had slipped to World Number 69. This was his first time as an unseeded player at the Indian Wells event. He faced German tennis player Simon
Greul in the first round, and was defeated in difficult straight sets.
However, Gasquet has improved his game a lot over the past few months. The French player has brought his ranking back up to World Number 21, and is on the verge of breaking into the Top 20 once again. He participated at the Dubai
tournament earlier this year, defeating players such as Grigor Dimitrov and Gilles Simon to reach the semi-final against Federer. Although he lost the match, it was a significant achievement for the player.
Now, Richard Gasquet will be facing World Number 10 and tenth seed Jurgen Melzer in the third round of the tournament. Melzer defeated French pro Julien Benneteau in his opening match at the event. So far, Melzer has maintained
a 2-0 head-to-head record against Gasquet. However, these matches took place almost four years ago and are now mostly irrelevant. Given his recent streak, Gasquet will probably be able to put up a good fight at the very least.
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