FRANCE 2, BELGIUM 1 Lille, France (Indoor Hard) For a while, it appeared that Belgium was ready to shock the fans inside Stade Pierre Mauroy, as Joris De Loore and Ruben Bemelmans served for a two sets to one lead in Saturday's doubles rubber in Lille, France. But Richard Gasquet and Pierre-Hugues Herbert battled the whole way in front of their home crowd to defeat the Belgians 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 and move France within one match of capturing its 10th Davis Cup title. Belgium, which is in its second Davis Cup Final in three years and third overall, now must win both reverse singles rubbers to triumph in the tie and claim their first victory at the event. Yannick...
Watch highlights as Richard Gasquet, Jeremy Chardy, Nicolas Mahut and Robin Haase all advance on Monday at the Rolex Paris Masters. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com.
Richard Gasquet won an all-French battle on Monday evening at the Rolex Paris Masters, prevailing against Benoit Paire 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to set up a second-round clash with sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov. Gasquet looked on course for a straight-sets victory when Paire mounted his challenge late in the second, winning four straight games to send the match to a decisive set. He was unable to maintain the momentum in the third, however, as Gasquet broke in the seventh game and served out the win to love after one hour and 46 minutes. The former World No. 7 improved to a perfect 5-0 mark against his countryman. The 31-year-old Gasquet, a three-time ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finalist, will take a...
Richard Gasquet has been one of the most consistent players on the ATP World Tour over the last decade-plus, finishing inside the Top 20 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in eight of the past 12 seasons. At the elite ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level, the Frenchman has reached three finals, finishing runner-up in Toronto twice (2006 l. Federer, 2012 l. Djokovic) and Hamburg once (2005 l. Federer). This series has also provided the stage for a couple other notable career highlights. Fifteen years ago, Gasquet made his tour-level debut as a 15-year-old at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, when he became the youngest player ever to qualify for a Masters 1000. Three years later at the same tournament, he saved...