Richard Gasquet said goodbye to tennis after his defeat against Jannik Sinner – Liberation

He went to his image. Soberly, without tears, without great emotions, but with a little word for those who accompanied it for more than two decades on the circuit. Richard Gasquet Located this Thursday, May 29, in the second round of Roland-Garros against the best player in the world, Jannik Sinner (6-3, 6-0, 6-4). And in this mid-afternoon, on a forehand sent ten centimeters too far on the court Philippe-Chatrier, his career stopped.

The infernal tennis machine will continue next week. There will be dozens of other matches and other tournaments. But we will see French again, his game classified and licked, his sublime setbacks with one hand, his atypical gestures in the service and his racket grip which he changed to any bomb between two games. His departure will leave an orphan a whole generation which had become used to finding him on television every month of May for a week (rarely more). From the four 2000s version musketeers, only Gaël Monfils remain.

Of twenty-three years spent by Richard Gasquet on the circuit, we will remember three things. First of all there were the success, many. The Biterrois displays one of the biggest records of French tennis with 16 won tournaments (only Noah and Tsonga have done better, certainly with more prestigious titles), a Davis Cup, an Olympic medal (double in London in 2012), 610 games won (more than any other French) and four years finished in the top 10. Arthur son,, Ugo Humbert And other Giovanni Mpeshi-Perricard to do even if only.

Next comes longevity. Tennis is a « Sport à la Con »he said himself In 2008where tournaments are linked, almost every week, all over the world. One period less well or an injury, and it is the assurance of tumbling in the ranking. If he inevitably experienced some physical stockings, Richard Gasquet will have managed to spend 956 consecutive weeks in the Top 100 ATP. Or 18 years and 9 months, between April 2005 and January 2024. The only three players to have done better in history? Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Just that.

And finally, there is disappointment. Because despite his extension career and his successes in the shovel, Richard Gasquet will leave in the memory of the French a feeling of unfinished. The fault of a crazy talent that earned him, kid, excessive expectations. At 9 years old, little Richard and his backhand in one hand appeared in one of tennis magazine. The photo was accompanied by a title that has his entire career in his skin: « The champion that France is waiting for? » The superlatives and reports continued all his adolescence, when he crushed everyone among the juniors, Rafael Nadal included. « I would have liked to grow with more serenity, calm and a little less stress and pressurehe said to Liberty A few days before Roland-Garros. It’s normal to have it when you are at the very high level. But so young, it may not have been the time. ”

From there, an empty career of a great slam was necessarily perceived as a failure. Three times, it was close to it (semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2007 and 2015, at the US Open in 2013) and at the same time still far, crossed each time by the Big 3 (Federer, Nadal and Djokovic). Without them, his destiny could have been different. He prefers not to think about it. « If they had not been there, do we (him, Tsonga, Monfils or Simon) would have managed to win great chelems? » Maybe. We will never know it. «