As Richard Gasquet prepares for his 49th appearance at a grand slam tournament next month, the Frenchman is showing no signs of slowing down his career and aspirations.
This season has brought success and agony for the 30-year-old on the ATP Tour. Clinching a duo of titles in Mopntripeller and Antwerp, Gasquet has also been blighted by a series of injury setbacks. Missing this year’s Australian Open due to a back injury, the Frenchman didn’t begin his season until February. Since then he has endured further blips with a groin injury forcing him out of Rotterdam followed by more back troubles in the summer, resulting in him withdrawing from Wimbledon and missing the Olympic Games.
After such a roller-coaster season, it could be forgiven for Gasquet to be tempted to pull the curtain on his memorable career. The temptation will be there, but it is not an option that he is contemplating. Instead, he resumed his off-season training 15 days after the BNP Paribas Masters ended in November, traveling to Barcelona to be with his newly appointed coach Sergi Bruguera.
“We will try to prepare well for the next (season), especially physically. We have already worked well to avoid new injuries. I have for example done a lot of muscle building in the lower back, this is important.” Gasquet told 20 minutes.
“There are still three big weeks of training, the goal is to already be at the top for the Australian Open, the first big event of the season.”
Gasquet’s drive to keep pushing at the top is inspired by the achievements of one of his rivals, but not one that belongs to the ‘big four’. At the age of 29 Stan Wawrinka clinched his maiden grand slam title at the 2014 Australian Open. Since then the Swiss player has managed to defy the odds and win a major title each year. It is the achievements of players such as Wawrinka that makes Gasquet believes that there is still time for him to make his mark on the tour.
“(Stan) Wawrinka is a year older than me and he is capable of winning Grand Slam tournaments, big pace and playing at a high level. I really think I still have a few seasons at the highest level. I would say three or four years.” Said the world No.18.
Unlike Wawrinka, Gasquet has not been so fortunate in the big tournaments. His best performance so far was a trio of semifinal appearances (once at the US Open and twice at Wimbledon). Nevertheless, the burning desire to do more is there for the world No.18. He is under no illusion about the odds of him triumphing in a major next year, yet he still believes he has what it takes to do better at the age of 30.
“I still have ambitions for the big tournaments, for the Davis Cup. Roland Garros is obviously the most important for me and I’m very happy to have reached the quarter-finals. The idea is to try to do better. Same for the Australian Open, I often reached the knockout stages without going any further.” Gasquet explained.
Currently ranked 18th in the world, Gasquet has ended his season ranked inside the top 20 for the ninth time in his career.
The full interview between Richard Gasquet and 20 minutes (in French) can be read here.
