2011 Sony Ericsson Open - ATP Seeds Part XVII: Richard Gasquet
World Number 18 Richard Gasquet
Tennis pro Richard Gasquet jumped three spots over the past week to reach his current ranking of World Number 18. Gasquet is the third-highest ranked Frenchman on the Association of Tennis Professionals these days, after World
Number 11 Gael Monfils and World Number 16 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He turned pro in 2002, and has been playing tennis on a professional scale for almost nine years. The right-handed pro currently lives in Switzerland, and is coached by compatriot Eric Deblicker.
The 24 year old pro is the first Frenchman to finish the year as World Number 1 Junior since 1997. Another significant achievement is the establishment of the Richard Gasquet Foundation, which aims to provide troubled teenagers
with discipline in the form of a sport. Gasquet’s career-high ranking is World Number 7, which he reached in 2007. The player has won six ATP career titles so far.
Richard Gasquet made his debut at the Miami Masters in 2003, when he was ranked World Number 112. His first match on the hard courts was against Jean-Rene Lisnard, who was ranked higher than him. Gasquet played his first match
to win the opening set and lose the second one, after which he retired from the match in the third set.
The French pro was seeded at his next appearance at the event in 2006, when he was World Number 12. He received a bye into the second round, where compatriot Florent Serra defeated him in straight sets. His next appearance at the
event was in 2007, when he was ranked World Number 16. This was also the year in which he made the most progress at Miami. The player was seeded once again, and he managed to defeat compatriot Sebastien Grosjean in his opening match before falling to Argentine
pro Guillermo Canas in the third round.
Gasquet’s next appearance at the tournament was in 2008, when he was at his career-high ranking of World Number 8. The player received a bye into the second round, but was defeated by Russian pro Dmitry Tursunov before he could
advance any further. He did not take part in the 2009 Miami Masters. His last showing at the tournament was in 2010, when he was unseeded as World Number 74. The Frenchman suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Olivier Rochus of Belarus.
The French player has never made it past the third round of the Miami Masters. However, he performed exceptionally well at the Indian Wells tournament earlier this month, reaching the quarterfinals of the event before being defeated
by eventual champion Novak Djokovic. This performance may be an indicator of his level of play in the upcoming tournament, and he may be able to extend his run at the Miami Masters in 2011.
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