Richard Gasquet downs Steve Johnson to reach fourth round – US Open 2012
Seeded 13th in the tournament draw, Richard Gasquet of France did not face any difficulty in beating the local wild card entrant, Steve Johnson, in the third round of the US Open on Sunday.
The Frenchman served splendidly well and made their combination with powerful ground strokes from all around the court, dropping just 11 games in the entire match to claim it 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-3 in less than two hours.
Johnson matched Gasquet’s superb serve performance in the first set, as both players held it throughout, levelling the proceedings at 6-6 and taking it to a tie-break. The American pair went into the driving seat by winning first
four points and grabbing a 4-0 lead but Gasquet stunned everyone after that, as he captured seven straight points to win 7-6(4).
First four games of the second set went in a similar fashion as the opener, as neither of the two players succeeded in breaking the other and squared off the score at 2-2. However, Johnson could not carry on with the same standard,
losing four games in a row to go down 2-6.
Carrying the winning momentum into the third set, Gasquet hit a blow to the American youngster in the very first game and consolidated on that to take a 2-0 advantage. The French number two broke Johnson again in the ninth to close
it 6-3.
During the post match press conference, Gasquet said that Johnson was close to winning the opener. He shared, "He could've won the first set today. If he had, the match would be different. When I did win, I knew mentally and physically
he was a little bit down. My confidence was better."
Johnson was still happy with his performance at this event, as he gave a tough time to one of the best players on the tour. He will jump more than 100 places in rankings because he reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the
first time in his sort career.
The American stated after the match, "I'm happy with the way I played this week. To be out there and have a chance to win the first set off of a guy who's No. 14 in the world, and then being able to compete with him in the next
couple sets was definitely not discouraging."
Gasquet is now slated to meet the fourth seed, David Ferrer of Spain, in the fourth round.
Tags: