Richard Gasquet outshines Robin Haase to enter round two – London Olympics 2012
Former world number seven, Richard Gasquet, tumbled the Dutch number one, Robin Haase, in straight sets at the London Olympics 2012 on Monday. He notched up a 6-3, 6-3 victory against his fellow Olympic debutant to book a spot in the second round at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, England.
The 16th seeded French displayed top class performance to dump Haase, who is standing at his career best rank at number 33 in the South African Airways ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour Rankings. Battling each other for the first time, Gasquet not only edged in the head-to-head series by 1-0 against the Dutch star but also powered into the round of 32 at this grass court event.
“It’s a different atmosphere, we really liked [as] it was a great experience for us, but now we want to perform at Wimbledon,” the seed was quoted after triumphing over Haase.
Gasquet entered Games of the x*x Olympiad with conviction. He drew the first blood in the fourth game and jumped to a 4-1 lead. The French held his remaining serves through amazing blocking skills and clicked the opener with a 6-3 score line.
Ranked 20th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Gasquet kept momentum rolling in the following set. After Haase held his serve in the fifth game, the French unveiled his true form and went on a four-game rampage.
The 25-year-old, who successfully defended his bet-at-home Cup in Kitzbuhel played well but exited from the opening round after losing his serve three times.
“I think I actually played really well, except for one game in the first set,” Haase stated after bowing out to the Frenchman.
Next up for Gasquet is the Cypriot number one, Marcos Baghdatis, who battled past the Japanese star, Go Soeda, in a three-set thriller to set up this duel.
Later that day, 11th seeded Nicolas Almagro from Spain also stole the spotlight. He took down Russia’s Alex Bogomolov in straight sets to advance into the third round. The seeded Spaniard ruled throughout the match after breaking his rival’s serve four times, he registered a 6-2, 6-2 success.
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