Very complicated start to the season for Richard Gasquet. Eliminated Monday evening as soon as he entered the Marseille tournament by the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut (6-3, 7-5), the Frenchman suffered a ninth defeat in a row on the circuit. Yet another poor performance which further frustrates the Biterrois ejected from the world Top 100 (131st player in the world).
Little helped by a weak serve (only 45% of first balls), Gasquet notably criticized the quality of the balls used at the Open 13, according to him, not fast enough. “Frankly on the court, the balls were very, very slow,” he told RMC Sport. It was monstrous, I have rarely seen that. The balls especially, it’s incredible. It’s not tennis anymore.”
According to Gasquet, this problem does not date from today. “Since Covid, there has been a problem with the quality of balls. Supermarket balls from the era. But really. These are the same balls as when I played at 10 years old,” regretted Gasquet before qualifying his remarks. “But hey, that’s not an excuse. With balls, ten years ago, I also lost a lot of matches, but it’s true that there is a real change”