Gasquet, a Former Child Prodigy, Grows Into His Talent
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Version 0 of 1. Stanislas Wawrinka and Richard Gasquet are first-time United States Open semifinalists this year. Both are in their late 20s; both have glorious one-handed backhands that have been making tennis aesthetes go weak in the knees for years. But in the expectation game that is professional tennis, Wawrinka has had it easier. True, Wawrinka won the French Open junior title and looked like quite a prospect, but he was Swiss, and that meant the eyeballs and the pressure would always be on Roger Federer. Wawrinka, to put it colloquially, was gravy. Gasquet was in a tighter spot. France, with its rich tennis tradition and its gift for centralized organization, has long had plenty of excellent male players. What it has lacked since Yannick Noah won the French Open and leapt into his father’s arms in 1983 has been a Grand Slam champion, and even Noah could summon the focus and desire to win a big one just once. The speculation began very early for Gasquet, when he graced the cover of France’s Tennis Magazine at age 9 under a headline that asked, “The champion that France is waiting for?” The cover caused considerable debate in France even then, and the truth is that some prodigies have borne the weight of early acclaim. Consider the Williams sisters or the pig-tailed Tracy Austin, the American wunderkind on the cover of Sports Illustrated at age 13 and later a world No. 1 and a United States Open champion. But Gasquet, despite his abundantly obvious talent, was not nearly as ready for prime time on the inside as he appeared on the outside as he ripped his extravagant one-handed backhand. A natural introvert in a milieu that demands communication from its stars, he was painfully shy — a great contrast to a youngster like Novak Djokovic, who came on the scene just a bit later, already a self-assured polyglot in his late teens. “It was difficult for a young guy like me to be so well known and to have people watching my tennis so closely,” Gasquet said as he wolfed down a plate of pasta — not gluten-free — in the Open players lounge Thursday. “I think if I were coaching a young player like that, I’d do things quite differently than they did with me,” he said. “A bit less exposure for sure, but then it’s true that I did play very well very young, so it’s not easy to control it. In France, these things accelerate quickly. If I were Spanish or from somewhere else, it wouldn’t have been the same. But in France it’s different, and it hurt me a bit. When you are young, it’s good to grow up a little more quietly, to have time to get yourself together. It’s tough to grow up with everyone’s eyes on you and everyone talking about you like a prodigy.” Gasquet did play very well very young, and one of the reminders is the video available on the Internet of him beating Rafael Nadal when they were both 13 in Les Petits As, the most prestigious 14-and-under tournament in Europe. Aside from recording Gasquet’s three-set victory, that video is also notable for showing that Nadal has not always been a painstakingly deliberate server (no short tugging, no tics), but there is a telling moment at the end. In defeat, Nadal jogs to the net, where a waiting Gasquet is reaching for his lower legs in obvious discomfort. The staying power has remained a challenge, and that is one of the reasons Nadal has rocketed into tennis orbit while Gasquet has been left behind to deal with the earth’s atmosphere, albeit with good views. Their boyhood rivalry has never been a rivalry in the professional ranks and has never generated much expectation and suspense since their first high-profile meeting, in the Monte Carlo semifinals in 2005. Both were 18. Gasquet, a qualifier, had just shocked Roger Federer, and Nadal was already a superstar in the making, seeded 11th. Nadal won, 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-3, and went on to win the first of his eight titles in Monte Carlo. He has won 12 Grand Slam singles titles since then, including eight French Opens, and his professional record against Gasquet stands at 10-0, which makes the pecking order abundantly clear heading into Saturday’s semifinal at the United States Open. “I think it’s safe to say I’m the underdog,” Gasquet said, smiling. But Gasquet, rather endearingly, sounded more wistful than bitter about it all. “Of course I’m jealous of Nadal, who won Roland Garros eight times,” he said. “I would have preferred it had been me, but hey, I’m not badly off. I was eighth in the world, seventh in the world. I have a lot of good fortune to be where I am in life. I’m quite happy, but of course I would have preferred to be in Nadal’s spot in tennis terms. It’s normal. I just admire what he’s done.” He also appreciates the support that Nadal gave him during the most difficult phase of his professional career: his provisional suspension from the tour in 2009 after a positive test for trace amounts of cocaine. Gasquet was later cleared after explaining that he had ingested the drug inadvertently by kissing a woman who had used cocaine. Before the ruling, Nadal publicly expressed his belief in Gasquet’s innocence. Four years later, Gasquet has not forgotten. “I got lots of text messages of support from people, but speaking publicly is quite a different matter,” Gasquet said. “He was one of the few who did that, and I thank him still. It meant a lot to me.” Gasquet has said the public doubt and embarrassment he experienced in 2009 left him reeling, but he is steady on his feet now, back in the top 10 and enjoying the input of his brain trust. In 2010, he hired Riccardo Piatti, an Italian whose enthusiasm for the game is infectious. Piatti, based in Monte Carlo, has coached Djokovic and Ivan Ljubicic. He and Gasquet speak in English, which is not either’s strength. “We don’t understand each other, but it works,” Piatti said. Gasquet also works with Sébastien Grosjean, a Frenchman once ranked No. 4. He and Piatti take turns traveling with Gasquet, and his back-to-back five-set victories here over Milos Raonic in the fourth round and, above all, over a longtime bête noire, David Ferrer, in the quarterfinals are reflective to longtime Gasquet observers of a new maturity at age 27. “Gasquet long ago got older without growing up,” wrote L’Équipe, France’s leading sports daily, in an editorial on Friday. “During this U.S. Open, he has become an adult.” Piatti, who worked with Ljubicic for 17 years and helped him achieve his best results in his late 20s, sees growth but clearly sees Gasquet as a masterwork in progress. “Sometimes during the match he finds some excuses for losing,” he said. “I said to him recently to stop to do this, and I explained to him three or four matches where he was losing in that way. Before he played Ferrer, he kept telling me, ‘I’m tired, tired, tired.’ “I said: ‘You are tired like everybody. You are not coming from St.-Tropez. You are coming from the first week of a Slam, and if you continue to find that excuse for losing, you are going to lose.’ ” Wawrinka has also benefited from a coaching change, hiring Magnus Norman, the Swede who was once No. 2 in the world. Wawrinka and Gasquet are compatriots in a way. Like many French tennis stars, Gasquet resides officially in Switzerland for fiscal reasons. The two share French as a primary language and are both sensitive souls who have needed time to get the balance and the details right. But here they are on what used to be Super Saturday, with Federer long gone, and with Nadal ready for Gasquet in a match where the stakes (and the video quality) will be quite a bit higher than it was back at age 13. “It seems fitting,” Gasquet said, “that it’s him across the net.” |