Richard Gasquet finished the year ranked 18th in the world and the number two French player. Although the Frenchman struggled with injury that saw him pull out of some tournaments, he did manage to keep up his record of winning a title every year he has been on tour.
Win-loss record
Gasquet, who certainly had some ups and downs, finished the year at 35-18, which was significantly lower than last year’s total of 43 wins. The back injury that he has struggled with played a part in him retiring in the fourth round at Wimbledon and his withdrawal from the Olympics.
High Points
The two titles he picked up at Montpellier and Antwerp were his highlights. In February, the 29-year-old defeated fellow Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-5, 6-4 to win the Open Sud de France. His second title of the year came at the Inaugural European Open eight months after capturing his first of the year. Along the way, Gasquet defeated Jan-Lennard Struff and avenged his defeat to Kyle Edmund as well as getting past Diego Schwartzman 7-6(4), 6-1 in the final.
Despite the two titles, his highest point came at his home Grand Slam, Roland Garros where he made the quarterfinals beating the likes of Nick Kyrgios and Kei Nishikori before eventually falling to runner-up Andy Murray in four sets having won the first set. The Frenchman also made the Shenzhen Open final losing to Tomas Berdych in three sets.
Low points
Richard Gasquet did not have a period where he had low points. Instead, his low points were scattered across the season. The 29-year-old was forced to miss the entire of the Australian including the Australian Open due to an ongoing back injury. After posting his best moment of the season at the French Open, Gasquet then endured a bit of a down point during the Grass season. At the Aegon Championships, he fell to Steve Johnson in straight sets in the round of 32 before retiring in the fourth round to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at Wimbledon, where he has made two semifinals including in the previous year.
Worst results
The Hard swing would see Gasquet go 3-3. He started with a win over Adrian Mannarino before losing to Kevin Anderson in straight sets at the Western and Southern Open. His poor form continued further with losses to John Millman in the quarterfinal at Winston-Salem and an opening round loss to unseeded Edmund at the US Open.
After making the final in Shenzhen, Gasquet somewhat struggled onwards. At the China Open despite winning a match, he exited in the second round to Pablo Carreno Busta in three sets. At the Shanghai Rolex Masters, Grigor Dimitrov got the better of the 29-year-old in straight sets before Gasquet went on to win just one match in his final two tournaments.
Grade: C+
Despite winning two titles, Gasquet continued to struggle with a back injury that saw him miss the first month of the season as well as withdrawing from the Olympics. But the only impact he made was in his home country where he won a title and made the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time.