Richard Gasquet achieves double milestone after beating Daniil Medvedev in Geneva

It was the 35-year-old Gasquet's first victory over a top-two player since defeating Roger Federer in 2005.

Richard Gasquet in a file photo. (Image: Twitter)
By Nilavro Ghosh | May 18, 2022 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Daniil Medvedev was obviously not at his best coming into the 2022 Geneva Open, having been off the tour since Miami due to a hernia, but any win over him is significant, and Richard Gasquet’s victory on Tuesday was a double milestone. Gasquet’s 6-2, 7-6 (5) triumph over the second-ranked Russian at the ATP 250 event was his 35th career victory over a Top 10 player, making him only the 10th active men’s player with 35 or more career victories over the top 10 players in the world.

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After losing in the quarterfinals in Miami last month, Medvedev had surgery and missed the early clay-court season. Geneva is a warm-up event for Roland-Garros, but Medvedev will be low on clay match experience heading into the second Grand Slam of the year. It was the 35-year-old Gasquet’s first victory over a top-two player since defeating Roger Federer in 2005, his only other victory over a top-two opponent in 38 attempts.

‘Don’t play my best tennis on clay courts’

After his defeat to Gasquet, Medvedev conceded that he was not a favourite to win the French Open as clay is not one of his strong points. “I don’t play my best tennis on clay courts. I know that I’m capable of making some good results, as I did in the past. But for this I kind of need to be in the zone,” he said after the match. “I don’t feel as confident on clay as on other surfaces, that’s why I lost 7/5 in the tie-break finishing with a double fault. It’s disappointing but I’ve had tougher losses in my career. Physically I felt not bad. With more days of practice I should be ready for Roland Garros,” the Russian added.

An uphill battle for the Russian

Medvedev also said that he would be working hard to get the form he had last year in the same competition. He had reached the quarter-finals at the time. “I haven’t played for a month and a half, two months. I’m going to try to work both physically and tennis-wise and hopefully I can find the game I had there last year — which is not going to be easy,” he said.

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“Clay for my body is the most dangerous surface. For me it’s clay courts — every time, every year I have some problems where I cannot be 100 percent. I’m not a favourite for Roland Garros but I do want to play well. If I can find my level again, I can be dangerous,” the Russian concluded.





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