After more than 20 years on the ATP Tour, Richard Gasquet is still racking up the wins. The Frenchman opened his 2023 campaign with a surprise title run in Auckland, and now — three days before his 37th birthday — he is celebrating his 600th career tour-level match victory.
Gasquet hit his latest milestone in supreme style, turning in a vintage performance to defeat World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas on Thursday at the BOSS OPEN.
“It means a lot. It’s incredible,” he said of the achievement, speaking with ATPTour.com. “You don’t think it will happen, this number in my career. Of course I played 20 years, but you have to win many matches. I knew I was at 500-something at the start of the year. It’s incredible for me to reach 600 matches.”
The former World No. 7 was at his creative best against Tsitsipas, thrilling the crowd with his inventiveness and doing damage with his flamboyant groundstrokes. For all of Gasquet’s greatness, it’s his iconic one-handed backhand that resonates most with fans. The stroke is one of the most beautiful in tennis history, and it is appreciated even more so today for its rarity at the top of the game.
In that respect, it was fitting that win No. 600 came against Tsitsipas — one of just two players in the Top 25 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings to play with a one-hander, along with Lorenzo Musetti. To reach the milestone against a player of the Greek’s quality further added to Gasquet’s satisfaction.
“Stefanos is one of the best players. It was a big match,” he said. “I had to play great to bother him and I could do it. Of course I’m 37 in two days, you never know what can happen in the future, so I just want to enjoy it.”
With the win against Tsitsipas, the Frenchman joined a list of even loftier names. He is now one of four active players to reach 600 wins, alongside Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
“Of course I’m the worst by far!” Gasquet joked when told of that statistic. “The worst player by far to reach this milestone. But it’s great.”
<img src="https://eltaszone.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/gasquet-celebrates-600th-win-i-wanted-it-a-lot.jpg" alt="Richard Gasquet, Juilen Cassaigne”>
Gasquet and coach Julien Cassaigne. Photo credit: ATP
Gasquet picked up his 500th win in 2018 at age 31. At the time, he doubted he could pile on another 100. But his motivation grew as he closed in on another century.
“I wanted it a lot. It took five years to reach it. It’s a lot,” he said. “In five years more I’ll be 42. It will be a little bit too much. I actually did [want to get to 600]. Not so many players did it, so it’s a great thing for me.”
Only 28 players have hit the 600 mark in the history of the ATP Tour, with Gasquet the first Frenchman to join the club.
Most Tour-Level Wins By French Male Players, Open Era
Entering the 2023 season with 588 wins, Gasquet turned back the clock to win the Auckland title in January, his first ATP crown since 2018 and his 16th overall. The triumph was a surprise even to him.
“It was incredible to win this title. I didn’t think I could win one more especially this year, at the start of the year,” he reflected. “It was crazy for me. It gave me a lot of confidence to keep going, to play more tennis.”
Of all his 600 wins, Gasquet picked out a few that loom largest in his memory. He recalled his very first ATP Tour victory at the age of 15, when he became the youngest player to win an ATP Masters 1000 match in Monte-Carlo. He also picked out his three Grand Slam quarter-final wins, all in five sets — against Andy Roddick at Roland Garros in 2007, David Ferrer at the 2013 US Open and Stan Wawrinka at Wimbledon in 2015.
While there will be no shortage of stories to tell once he steps away from the ATP Tour, at this moment, Gasquet seemed more excited to look forward to creating more memories.
“I have to [adapt my game] if I want to play more,” he said, when asked how his game has changed in recent years. “I need to be more aggressive, to serve better, return better. It’s important for my game if I want to keep going on the tennis court.”
Source Tennis – ATP World Tour
