Richard Gasquet – What’s your game?

Video Score: 5 / 5

GASQUET DROPPED

Frenchman Richard Gasquet has been left out of the France Davis Cup squad that will square off against the Canadian Davis Cup team for the tie scheduled over the weekend due to poor form and fitness over the past couple of seasons.

The former world number seven has not been in his usual swashbuckling form over the past couple of seasons, having seen his rankings drop drastically from the top ten. He did not even make the semi finals stage of the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open, losing in the 4th round quite easily.

The 25 year old former Mixed Doubles champion at the French Open of 2004 did not even make it through to the finals of the Open Sud de France, losing to seventh seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber in a nail biting finish in three sets. Richard Gasquet, although, has attributed his loss to his poor fitness and fatigue, having continuously played for the last two years without a break, the Davis Cup team of France did not include him in the squad for reasons explained by the team captain, as his loss of form, more than his fitness.

Gasquet is, however, looking to get back his touch ahead of the ATP Tour events scheduled for next year and he is also looking to represent France in the 2012 London Olympic Games as well. However, with his form dropping drastically, it is worth watching if the French Tennis Federation does send him as the official entrant in Singles for the Olympic Games with the likes of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils in top form.

But Richard Gasquet is adamant about his entry in the Games and with time on his hands at the moment, all he can do is practice hard on his game ahead of the Games.

GASQUET HAS NEW STYLE

The French team headed into the finals of the Hyundai Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia, as they defeated the Spanish team. The French team consisted of Marion Bartoli representing the women’s side and Richard Gasquet representing the men.

Marion had a comparatively easy opponent in the form of Anabel Medina Garrigues, whom she defeated 6-2, 6-4. This gave the French side a 1-0 lead in the 3 match faceoff. Gasquet, however, had a tougher opponent in the form of Fernando Verdasco. But Gasquet had an unbeaten run at this year’s Hopman Cup, winning all of his three matches in the competition. Earlier in the competition, Gasquet took on, and defeated Lleyton Hewitt of Australia and Wu Di of China in the group stages. The Frenchman claimed his third win of the competition by defeating Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-4, the same scoreline by which his partner defeated her opponent.

It has often been said in tennis circles that the French youngster has a backhand, which is better than that of anyone currently in the professional circuit. But critics have also said that he is a player who shows sparks of brilliance in some matches, defeating some big names, but has never maintained that form long enough to get a breakthrough in any of the Grand Slam events. The youngster, however, wishes to change all that this time. He has vowed to develop a more attacking style of play, taking the game to his opposition. By his own admission, he has not attacked as much as some of the big names in world tennis. He used to prefer waiting for his opponent to make a mistake. But at the Graand Slam level, mistakes are hard to come by. His defeat of Verdasco was a major confidence booster, something that he hopes will help him in the Australian Open.

Tennis Video Lesson 8: Richard Gasquet topspin Backhand.

Video Ranking: 5 / 5

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Video clip Rating: four / five

Rogers Cup(Roger Federer /Richard Gasquet)

Video Rating: four / five