• At almost 37 years old, Richard Gasquet has made his return to the top 50 of the ATP ranking and has a totally bluffing first half of the season.
  • Winner in Auckland at the beginning of January against Cameron Norrie, the Biterrois became the oldest French player to win a tournament on the ATP circuit.
  • A week before the start of Roland-Garros, Gasquet revealed the recipe to last as long as possible at the highest level.

Despite all the love we have for him, if we had been told a few years ago that, of the four Musketeers of French tennis, Richard Gasquet would be the one who would fart the most form a week before the 2023 edition of Roland-Garros, we would not have believed him. And yet, while Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon have folded the saplings and Gaël Monfils has sunk into the depths of the ATP ranking, our national Richard is painfully rejuvenating a second youth, quietly installed in the top 50 at almost 37 years old (he will have them on June 18). And if his defeat against Ugo Humbert at the Bordeaux Challenger on Sunday will earn him to pass behind his youngest compatriot, Gasquet will still have been the first Frenchman at the ATP in recent weeks.



He himself finds it hard to believe, as he told us a month ago on the sidelines of the Monte-Carlo tournament. "Two, three years ago, at a time when I was really not well, when I had some very disabling injuries, I never thought I would return to this level. I knew I still had enough to beat good players, but to win a tournament like I did in Auckland and come back that high in the rankings, no, really not." By winning in New Zealand against Camreon Norrie (12th in the world), #Richard2023 became the oldest French player to win a tournament on the ATP circuit, ahead of Fabrice Santoro and Gaël Monfils. In addition, with 16 victories (all in 250 tournaments, admittedly), Gasquet has consolidated his place on the podium of the most successful French, behind Yannick Noah (23) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (18).


36. Winner of the Auckland tournament at 36 years, 6 months and 27 days, @richardgasquet1 became the oldest French player to have won a tournament on the ATP Tour since the beginning of the Open era. pic.twitter.com/BdvaxtOiFs

— Game, Set and Math (@JeuSetMaths) January 14, 2023

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A few months ago, when commenting on the retirement of Roger Federer and the longevity of the Swiss bellatto on the ATP circuit, the Biterrois laughed by explaining that, for him, it was necessary to "call him the SAMU" as soon as he chained two matches in a row. And here he is today, chaining tournaments as if nothing had happened, without the slightest ambulance siren on the horizon. A feat that does not surprise in the least the physical trainer Paul Quetin, who sees in this return to form of Gasquet the sign of a passion still intact.

There's something you always have to keep in mind when talking about Richard, and that's part of what explains his longevity, is that he's a true sports enthusiast, a crazy lover of the game. He loves to play, all the time, everywhere, it's his life. This was also the case for Jo, Gilles or Gaël, of course, but in my opinion Richard has a particular thing in his relationship with tennis. »

"He has no reason to stop"

That's exactly what he told us between two training sessions in Monaco. "Every day that passes I enjoy myself on a court, I think H24 tennis, I breathe tennis. And age doesn't count in that, I still feel young. That's also the secret, to stay so long on the circuit you have to feel young, otherwise you take a slap. And then, the more you win, the more you want to play, the happier you are on the circuit, it's a virtuous circle. There are necessarily harder moments than others and it's not always easy to find the mental strength not to give up, but I still manage to keep the motivation, I feel that the time has not yet come to stop. »

"The day he says stop, and he has always said that, is when he feels that he is no longer able to perform," explains Paul Quetin. But as long as his body is fine, like right now, and he leaves him alone with the injuries, he has no reason to stop." To prevent the mechanics from stalling and the body from failing, Gasquet has changed his way of preparing outside of matches a lot in recent years. From now on, he shows great meticulousness in warm-ups but no longer pulls like a pig on the machine. A privileged witness of this training routine in Paris, where Gasquet regularly visits throughout the year, Paul Quetin admires the professionalism of the player.

"What makes the difference is that he knows himself perfectly. I see him when he is at the CNE, he has training at 11 o'clock but he always arrives an hour and a half before, he does a lot of exercises to get going, at a lower intensity than a few years ago off the field but it's calculated, it's a hyper square warm-up, he analyzes. He will do the appropriate exercises to avoid injury but there is no more warm-up at high intensity. On the other hand, when he is on the field, racket in hand, there he gives everything, he does not try to save himself. The intensity he no longer puts in physical training, he no longer does weight training, things like that, and he keeps everything for the field, regardless of the opponent. When he does sets with the youngsters, Lucas Van Asche, Gabriel Debru, he is always at the cleat. »

See Roland and spend a few laps

"We have to find the right balance, not to do too much but to do it anyway, smiles the dean of French tennis. It is necessary to dose well, that is to say to keep a high intensity in training, play the sets thoroughly but never do the fifteen, twenty minutes too much. For the rest, Gasquet did not revolutionize the shmilblick. To hold on, you have to stick to what Mbappé calls "eating well, sleeping well".

Gasquet: "There is no secret, when you want to stay at the top level at 37, you have to take care of your body, rest, take recovery periods, blunder your diet, everything is important. When you're 20, it's easier, but the more years go by, the more you have to be smart and rigorous. And if he admits to being "sometimes a little fun on the food", not to "go totally crazy", the winner in Aukland in early January is forced to put aside his other passions outside tennis. "I'm rather old for tennis but I'm still young in a lifetime, I tell myself that I will have plenty of time to have fun playing golf or football after my career. That's why I manage to make these sacrifices, the game is worth the candle. »

It remains to be seen what can be expected of him at Roland-Garros, he who recently explained to L'Equipe to have trouble winning matches if they go beyond three sets, which was already weakness when he was at the peak of his career. "He will always surprise us so we can hope that he does something to Roland, wants to believe Quetin. It will depend on his opponent, it is sure that if he has to play from the start a specialist of the earth or a young man in full stuff like Rune or Ruud, it will be difficult. But if he is lucky enough to have a slightly more lenient draw, he can pass a few rounds. Two victories and it would already be happiness: Richard has not seen a 3rd round at Roland since 2018, and it was to get stuck with Rafa Nadal. At least one draw he's sure to avoid this year.

  • Tennis
  • Sport
  • Roland-Garros 2023
  • Richard Gasquet