Betting RSS Bet of the day
| Nadal Rafael | Gasquet Richard | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
1 | ATP rankings | 16 |  |
| 3. 6. 1986 | Birthdate | 18. 6. 1986 | ||
| 185 cm | Height | 182 cm | ||
| 85 kg | Weight | 75 kg | ||
| left | Plays | right | ||
| 2001 | Turned pro | 2002 | ||
Again my favourite bet this week. 16th-ranked Richard Gasquet has had a very public rocky path back to the forefront of professional tennis over the past few years. France’s once highly-touted “Golden Boy” was expected to be the country’s savior and end its near-18 year Slam drought, but he constantly crumbled under the pressure. Since his Slam debut, at the 2002 French Open, at the ripe of 15, Gasquet has advanced past the quarterfinals of a major only once and has never captured a Masters title. Other Frenchmen have since taken the country’s torch and risen to greater heights, particularly Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils. Gasquet has been sidelined by knee, abdominal, shoulder and back injuries, over the years, but none of his impediments to success have been as eye-opening as his 2009 positive test for cocaine and subsequent ban from the ATP Tour. Even stranger was his explanation for the test result, claiming that he kissed a girl at a party and inadvertently consumed the substance after she had ingested it. Sounds a bit contrived? Well, the ATP bought it, and a few months later he was cleared to return to professional tennis.
Gasquet has won only one title since being reinstated, however, but is enjoying quite the resurgence this week at the Rome Masters. Along with Stanislas Wawrinka, of Switzerland, he employs one of the most precise and most powerful one-handed backhands in the game. In the third round he nicked Roger Federer, 4-6 7-6 7-6, and in Friday’s quarterfinals he eliminated seventh-ranked Tomas Berdych. He incredibly topped Fed despite winning less overall points (102-97) and being broken more times (3-2) during the match. As is a current common theme when he struggles, it was the Swiss’ unforced error count that eventually did him in. The Frenchman will next face top-seed Rafael Nadal in Saturday’s semis in what would be an ever more monumental upset. Gasquet and Nadal are actually very close friends, and it was Nadal who strongly supported him during his cocaine probe: “I support him, I’m certain that he’s not taking anything. He’s not taking cocaine. I know him, he’s a good friend of mine, and I discussed this with him last week…He’s most certainly not taking cocaine.” After an opening set hiccup, this week, Nadal has since cruised to the semifinals. He did not face a break point against Marin Cilic in the quarters and outplayed the Croat in every facet, prevailing 6-1 6-3.
Nadal is a perfect 8-0 against Gasquet, including four clay-court victories. They last met a few weeks ago, in Monte-Carlo, where Nadal won 6-2 6-4. Nothing more to say.
Take Under 19 @ 1.84 with Pinnaclesport
Validates to