Match report

Richard Gasquet © Tennistalk.com
Brisbane International
1st round
1/4/09 1 2 3 Tot
fr  Richard Gasquet 4 6 6 2
fr  Marc Gicquel 6 2 2 1
Marc Gicquel © Tennistalk.com

  • Brisbane – Gasquet through despite rocky start

    1/4/09 8:52 PM | Cheryl Murray
    After dropping the first set, Richard Gasquet cruised through his match against Marc Gicquel in the opening round in Brisbane on Sunday afternoon.

    France’s Richard Gasquet took his first baby step toward reversing a downward trend in his ranking with a three-set victory over countryman Marc Gicquel at the Brisbane International. The match did not look encouraging for Gasquet in the first set. The former world number seven (he is currently ranked 23) struggled with his serve; in the first set, he won just over 50% of the points on his own serve and was broken twice to give Gicquel a set advantage.

    Gasquet continued to struggle with his first serve for the remainder of the match. He served at 47% in the second set and a dismal 36% in the third. Fortunately for Gasquet, Gicquel’s level dipped considerably in the second and third sets. Gasquet made big inroads on his compatriot’s serve, earning a staggering sixteen break points between the second and third set, converting four of them. Gicquel was not nearly as effective on the return after breaking Gasquet twice in the opening set. Despite Gasquet’s terrible first serve percentage, Gicquel only managed one break point on his opponent’s serve, which he failed to convert.

    Gasquet’s next opponent will be American Taylor Dent, who payed just a few tournaments in 2008 after being sidelined for years with injuries.

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