Richard Gasquet will miss both the Indian Wells Masters and the Miami Open after undergoing surgery on his appendix.
Uncertainty concerning the whereabouts of the French player began to circulate on Tuesday after he was missing from the BNP Paribas Open draw. Shortly after organisers confirmed that Gasquet has withdrawn due to ‘medical reasons’ without providing further details. His withdrawal occurred on the same day as Serena Williams, who pulled out due to left knee injury.
Richard Gasquet has pulled out due to medical reasons #BNPPO17
— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) 7 March 2017
Thibault Le Rol, a journalist from Bein Sports France, has confirmed that Gasquet has had to undergo surgery on his appendix. It is reported that he underwent the procedure yesterday, the same day as the men’s draw. Gasquet and his team has so far made no comments concerning the issue.
Gasquet’s withdrawal is that first time he will not play in the Californian Masters 1000 event since 2005, ending his run of 11 consecutive appearances. So far this season the 30-year-old has achieved a 10-4 win-loss on the tour. At the Open 13 in Marseille he reached his 28th ATP final before losing to Alexander Zverev. Earlier in the year at the Australian Open he crashed out in the third round to Grigor Dimitrov.
Currently ranked 19th in the world, the former top-10 player now faces the prospect of dropping outside the top 20 for the second time this season.
