Best matches of 2011 ATP World Tour: Part three – Tennis Special
It is always thrilling to witness a match having a nail biting finish, rather than a one-sided affair. Tennis is said to be one of the most unpredictable game, as no one knows when a player turn the tables upon his opponent in
a match to stun everyone. Our journey to the recent past continues, where we review some of the most enthralling encounters between top class contestants on tennis courts.
Richard Gasquet vs. Roger Federer – Rome Masters; third round
France’s Richard Gasquet took off the 2011 ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) season as the world number 30 but rocketed up to the 11th spot in the South African Airways ATP World Rankings within seven months.
Some inconsistency on his part pushed him down to the rank of world number 19 by the end of the circuit but the 25-year-old has featured some of the best matches of the 2011 season which shall always be remembered for a long time.
Gasquet has six ATP championship titles under his belt but none of them came in the current year. The French finished off the 2011 season with 34-20 winning record. His run at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome is considered to
be the best one this season, as he outclassed two of the Top-10 players to reach the semi-finals of the tournament.
The Frenchman went on head-to-head against the former world number one, Roger Federer, in the third round of the Rome Masters but no one knew before that the contest to follow would be one of the best of 2011. Gasquet posed a performance
of his lifetime to overwhelm the Swiss maestro, defeating him in three sets to claim a memorable victory.
Federer was riding an eight-match winning streak against Gasquet when he faced the French in the third round at Rome Masters for their 10th meeting. The viewers anticipated that it would be another routine victory for
the Swiss maestro and less was expected that Gasquet could take down the fiery Federer. The results of the game, however, stunned everyone, as Gasquet beat all the odds to register a three-set victory over the world number three.
Federer took hold of the game earlier on by taking the opening set at 4-6. The scores were levelled at 4-4 in the following set when the huge momentum swing took place in the game. Gasquet started to play more aggressively and
held all his serves to enforce a tie breaker round. He eventually took the second set tie-breaker at 7-6(2) and carried on his winning roll in the final set as well.
Another tie breaker was witnessed in the game to decide the winner of the enthralling contest. Federer collapsed once again in the pressure situation and frittered away a couple of opportunities to let Gasquet stand as the victor
at 7-6(4).
“I [played] a very good match for sure and as you can imagine I am very happy to beat Roger," said Gasquet, "This does not happen many times, so I have to enjoy it. His forehand is very fast and the court today was very fast and
[it was] very difficult conditions, but I tried to play good as I had nothing to lose and this is very important. I cannot play my game [under] a lot of pressure.”
Gasquet’s winning norms continued in the quarter-finals as well and he outplayed the then world number seven, Tomas Berdych to book a semi-final berth in the tournament. His dream run was finally brought to an end when top seed,
Rafael Nadal, defeated him in the round of four but his victory over Federer was declared to be his best one for the 2011 season.
Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in the article are the writer’s own personal views and have nothing to do with bettor.com’s editorial policy.
Tags: