Frenchman Richard Gasquet is no longer the record holder for time spent in the top 100. At least not for long. After his defeat against his young compatriot Arthur Fils (35e world) in the first round of the ATP 250 in Auckland (3-6, 4-6), Tuesday January 9, the Biterrois will officially no longer be part of the hundred best players in the world, Monday January 15, when the new ATP ranking. It will be, at best, 131e.
Currently ranked at 76e world rank, the 37-year-old player had to win the tournament in Auckland (New Zealand), as he did in 2023, to recover his 250 points and thus not leave the top 100, which he had entered in 2005, at age 19.
As a symbol, it is the French tennis prodigy, Arthur Fils, also destined for a great career, who pushed Gasquet beyond the top hundred places in the world for the first time in more than 18 years.
“He’s a great champion, he’s had an incredible career, so I’m really happy to be able to play with him. But I had a good match, and I’m really happy.”greeted, after his victory, the 19-year-old player, who applauded his elder when he left the court.
Still able to “perform”
With 956 weeks of presence, “Richie” was the tennis player still in practice having spent the most time in this ranking, notably ahead of the Serbian Novak Djokovic by eleven weeks. Even if he was still far from the 1,165 weeks of the Swiss Roger Federer, the Biterrois will have left his mark on French tennis.
If he obtains good results this season – particularly during the Australian Open, which begins on Sunday January 14 – the Heraultais could quickly make his return to the top 100. “I hope the elbow leaves me alone. If that’s the case, I’m sure I can have a great seasonhe explained to The Team in the month of December. When I play with young people, I don’t feel overwhelmed at all. I am convinced that I will be able to play big matches in 2024.”
However, just like the Spaniard Rafael Nadal – with whom he is only fifteen days apart – Richard Gasquet no longer hides that the end of his career is near. In February 2022, he confided to World “feel the end coming” And “ideally stop in Montpellier, because [il] come[t] from there, or at Roland-Garros », without specifying the season concerned. Still able to “perform” against highly ranked players, he still has prestigious victories to achieve before then.