PETE ZIEBRON
Richard Gasquet was already on the radar of the Fédération Française de Tennis when he was 9 years old.
On Monday, French #2 and world #9 Richard Gasquet entered his 4th round match against world #11 Milos Raonic with a 1-15 record in 4th round matches in majors. His lone win in the 4th round was in 2007 when he came from a two set deficit to defeat Andy Roddick at Wimbledon. Fortunately for Gasquet, Raonic came into the match with an 0-3 record in 4th round matches in majors.
Something had to give in this match and finally, after 4 hours and 38 minutes, Gasquet would prevail with a 6-7(4) 7-6(4) 2-6 7-6(11) 7-5 victory over Raonic. Gasquet saved one match point in the 4th set, withstood a 39 ace barrage from the upstart Canadian and actually won 12 fewer points than Raonic in the match.
The win was especially sweet for Gasquet since this match was his 9th trip to the 4th round at a major in his last 11 appearances. He lost each of his previous 11 4th round matches, including this year at the Australian Open and Roland Garros, as well at each of the majors in 2012.
Following their lengthy battle on Court 17, Raonic had hearty praise for Gasquet: "He played better down the stretch than I did. Created a lot more opportunities. He won the points when he needed to win them. That's what it came down to." When asked to elaborate more on Gasquet's ability to return his massive serve, Raonic explained: "He has good hands, that's for sure. He was able to get in a comfortable zone."
Once Richard Gasquet is able to get through his 4th round at a major, he remains perfect in his next match in the quarterfinals, now with a 2-0 record, as today he defeated #4 seed David Ferrer of Spain today 6-3 6-1 4-6 2-6 6-3. Next up for Gasquet is a semifinal encounter on Saturday against #2 seed Rafael Nadal of Spain, who defeated countryman Tommy Robredo in today's other quarterfinal 6-0 6-2 6-2.
As ATP professionals, Nadal owns a 10-0 record against Gasquet as well as a 23-4 mark in sets won in their matches. Nadal defeated Gasquet in the 1st round of the 2009 US Open in their only meeting in a major and has not dropped a set to Gasquet since their meeting in the quarterfinals at the Toronto Masters 1000 in 2008.
Following his win over Ferrer, Gasquet recalled that he did beat Nadal once when they were 13 years old. "It was a match in Tarbes (France), one of the biggest tournaments for the younger children under 14." Gasquet explained. "He was already fighting a lot already, already running so much, and I remember I won maybe 6-4 in a set, and I told my father after, He's a big fighter."
Immediately after his victory over Robredo, Rafael Nadal was asked on court if he remembered the match he lost to Gasquet when they were youngsters. Nadal vividly remembered the event and smiled when he specifically stated the location as well as the 6-4 final set scoreline. Later in his press conference, Nadal elaborated about Gasquet then and now: "When you see a player like Richard that we grow up in, you know, similar ways and we played when we were kids. Today we have the chance to be in the semifinals of the US Open, so is great. Is a great thing for both of us, so very happy."
Nadal continued in his praise for Gasquet when asked about their semifinal on Saturday: "He's playing a great tournament. Two great wins against Raonic and now against David. Great confidence for him. Five set victories against tough opponents, that's brilliant for him. He will come to that match with good confidence. He will play with confidence. I am sure on that. I need to keep playing my way, aggressive style like I did today. If feels like this and I keep having the feeling of today, I hope to have my chances."
Richard Gasquet is well aware of the fact that he has not able to beat Nadal in quite a long time "I won that time at 13 years old, but since this match I didn't..."
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