Richard Gasquet

Began playing tennis at age four with his father, Francis, who ran a tennis club in Serignan and coached until October 2001; mother, Maryse, also teaches tennis... Appeared on cover of French Tennis Magazine at age nine in February 1996... Discovered by former ATP pro Pierre Barthes who ran the nearby Cap d' Agde tennis camp...Big rugby fan and supports his hometown Beziers team...No. 1 junior and World Junior Champion in 2002, winning Roland Garros (d. Recouderc) and US Open (d. Baghdatis)...Fifth Frenchman to finish as World No. 1 junior and first since Arnaud Di Pasquale in 1997...Moved to Switzerland in September 2005...Has a 5-5 career Davis Cup singles record (0-1 in doubles) in eight ties...In February 2008, launched The Richard Gasquet Foundation, which aims to help adolescents who struggle to find their place in society and who suffer from a lack of confidence...It will use sport as a way to bring underprivileged youths back to health and enable them to rediscover the joys of life; and as a way to build a future...Coached by countryman Eric Deblicker (since US Open in August 2009).

2002 -- The youngest player (16) to finish in year-end Top 200...Captured two Futures titles and one Challenger title in Montauban (d. Serrano)...In April, made his ATP debut at AMS Monte Carlo where he received a wild card into qualifying and became youngest player ever to qualify for an ATP Masters Series event, defeating Davydenko and Voinea...At 15 years, 10 months, then defeated Squillari in 1st RD to become youngest player to win an ATP main draw match since Tommy Ho at Rye Brook in 1988...Lost in 2nd RD to Safin...Made his Grand Slam tournament debut at Roland Garros at age 15 years, 11 months, nine days (second-youngest player ever to compete in main draw) in Paris (Francois Errard, a 1983 qualifier, was three months younger)...Took eventual Roland Garros champion Albert Costa to four sets in opening round match...Came into Paris with a 10-match winning streak in Futures tournaments, capturing titles in Great Britain (as a qualifier) and Germany...Also a finalist at Tampere Challenger (l. to Nieminen)...

2003 -- Finished as youngest player in Top 100...Compiled outstanding results on Challenger circuit with a 34-13 record and four titles -- Sarajevo (d. D. Norman), Napoli (d. Muller), Reggio Emilia (d. Starace) and Grenoble (d. Levy)...Entered Top 100 in rankings for first time following Grenoble title...Won ATP matches in Adelaide (d. Di Pasquale) and Marseille (d. Lopez)...

2004 -- Reached his first career ATP final in Metz...Posted wins over van Scheppingen, Dupuis, Monfils and Morrison to reach final before losing to countryman Haehnel...Reached Buenos Aires SF (l. to Coria)...In doubles, captured Roland Garros mixed title (w/Golovin)...

2005 -- Finished as his country's No. 1 player highlighted by his first career ATP title and Top 20 year-end ranking despite illness and injury during year...Joined No. 2 Nadal as only teenagers to finish in Top 20...Did not lose in 1st RD in 11 tournaments he played...Missed first seven weeks of season with chicken pox before making debut in Challenger play in late February...Won back-to-back titles in Italy at Barletta (d. DiMauro) and Napoli (d. Starace) Challengers...In April, played his first ATP event at AMS Monte Carlo and defeated Davydenko (3rd) and No. 1 Federer (QF), saving three match points before losing in three sets to eventual champion Nadal...Was one of only four players (Safin, Nadal, Nalbandian) to beat Federer during season and afterwards climbed from 101 to No. 61...Following month at AMS Hamburg, qualified and reached final (l. to Federer)...Won his first Grand Slam matches at Roland Garros, reaching 3rd RD (l. to Nadal)...Turned in his best results on grass with a QF at Queen’s (l. to Stepanek), first ATP title in Nottingham (d. Mirnyi) and 4th RD at Wimbledon (l. to Nalbandian)...Made his Davis Cup debut in QF tie in Russia (lost 3-2) and defeated Andreev in opening rubber before losing to Davydenko in fourth rubber...Advanced to 4th RD at US Open with five-set wins over A. Martin (1st) and Ljubicic (3rd) before losing in five to Ginepri...Made last outing in Metz in early October and reached QF...Withdrew from final four events due to a right elbow injury...Compiled records of 13-5 on clay, 11-2 on grass and 7-4 on hard...

2006 -- Finished as his country's No. 1 player and in Top 20 for a second straight year, highlighted by career-high three ATP titles in four finals...His three titles were most by a Frenchman since Guy Forget won six in 1991...Turned around a 7-13 start through mid-June to finish with a 27-8 record rest of season...Reached finals on all four surfaces...In a three-week stretch, defended grass-court title in Nottingham (d. Bjorkman), fell to eventual champion Federer in Wimbledon opener, and claimed first clay title in Gstaad (d. Lopez)...In August, reached second career AMS final, falling to Federer in Toronto...Beat Santoro, No. 6 Blake, Verdasco, Berdych and Murray en route to final...Advanced to 4th RD at AMS Indian Wells (l. to Federer)...In Davis Cup 1st RD against Germany, defeated Haas in five sets to lead his country to a 3-2 win...In QF tie (vs. Russia), lost five-set matches to Safin and Tursunov...In that tie, suffered an abdominal injury and missed one month of action...Advanced to 4th RD at US Open for second straight year (l. to Hewitt in five sets)... Captured title in Lyon (d. Gicquel)...Was 14-12 on hard, 6-3 on carpet, 7-4 on clay and 6-2 on grass...Went 1-7 vs. Top 10 opponents, defeating No. 6 Blake in 2nd RD of AMS Toronto...

2007 -- The top Frenchman finished in Top 10 for first time, won a career-high 49 matches and his fifth career ATP title while reaching two other finals...Also advanced to his first Grand Slam SF at Wimbledon...Clinched final berth at Tennis Masters Cup, climbing from 13 to No. 8 in the final week after reaching SF at AMS Paris...Went 1-2 in round robin play...First Frenchman to qualify for Tennis Masters Cup since Sebastien Grosjean who reached final in 2001...Grosjean was also last Frenchman in year-end Top 10 in 2003...Began first three months with a 15-6 mark highlighted by QF in Adelaide (l. to Guccione) and Marseille (l. to Soderling), SF in Sydney (l. to Moya) and 4th RD at Australian Open (l. to Robredo)...On clay, reached QF at AMS Monte Carlo and reached final in Estoril (l. to Djokovic)...On grass, made QF in Nottingham (l. to Clement) and followed with SF at Wimbledon, rallying from two-sets deficit to beat Roddick 8-6 in fifth set in QF (l. to Federer)...Best results came after his 2nd RD exit at US Open (W/D vs. Young due to illness) as he won 14 of 20 matches...Captured first Asian title in Mumbai (d. O. Rochus), losing only 20 games in five matches, while completing a career surface slam, of winning titles on all four surfaces (carpet, clay, grass, hard)...Following week reached final in Tokyo (d. No. 10 Berdych in SF, l. to Ferrer)...After back-to-back 2nd RD exits at AMS Madrid (l. to Mathieu) and Lyon (l. to Tsonga), advanced to SF at AMS Paris with wins over Tsonga, No. 7 Blake and Murray (l. to Nalbandian)...Went 5-7 vs. Top 10 opponents and compiled marks of 29-13 on hard, 12-7 on clay and 7-3 on grass...In doubles, reached final at AMS Monte Carlo (w/Benneteau)...Surpassed $1 million during season for first time in his career.

2008 -- The Frenchman finished in Top 25 for fourth straight year...Did not win an ATP title for first time since 2004 but reached one ATP final and QF or better in five other tournaments...Compiled a 10-10 record in first five months of action with best result 4th RD at Australian Open (l. to Tsonga) and AMS Indian Wells (l. to Blake)...Withdrew from Roland Garros with left knee injury...Returned after one month to grass court circuit and reached QF at Queen's (l. to Nalbandian), 2nd RD at 's-Hertogenbosch (l. to Gicquel) and 4th RD at Wimbledon (l. to Murray in five sets)...Then reached his lone final on clay in Stuttgart (l. to del Potro)...In next tournament, advanced to QF at AMS Toronto (l. to Nadal in three sets)...Lost in 1st RD at US Open (l. to Haas)...In final five tournaments, compiled 9-5 mark with SF in Bucharest (l. to Moya) and Tokyo (l. to del Potro) with a QF in between in Beijing (l. to Schuettler)...Went 1-5 vs. Top 10 opponents with his lone win coming over No. 5 Ferrer in 3rd RD at AMS Toronto...Compiled marks of 18-13 on hard, 7-5 on clay and 6-3 on grass.

2009

The French native finished out of Top 50 for first time in five years…His best ATP World Tour results were four SFs, including three in first five tournaments…He opened season with back-to-back SF showings in Brisbane (l. to Stepanek) and Sydney (l. to Nalbandian)…In February, he reached that round in Dubai (l. to Ferrer)…Did not play from May through July due to a three-month doping suspension…In September, reached SF in Metz, falling to countryman and eventual champion Monfils…Then closed season with QF in Kuala Lumpur (l. to Verdasco) and Basel (l. to Chiudinelli)…Compiled marks of 19-13 on hard and 3-2 on clay.