It really doesn't seem to be his cup of tea - playing on grass. Gael Monfils, Nummer five on the list, had to say goodbye in the first round of the 25th GERRY WEBER OPEN already. His compratriot, Richard Gasquet showed consistency on the fastest surface of the world and got through with a deserved score of 3:6, 6:4, 6:3.
Overall by the net, the lively Richard Gasquet, who had celebrated his 31st birthday the day before, played virtually without fault. And always when he saw the chance to go towards the net, he went straight there and played steady volleys. Although the most spectacular points were made by Gael Monfils'. These were too seldom, though. Nevertheless the favourite secured the first set after 36 minutes. But Richard Gasquet wasn't much impressed by that.
In the second set both Frenchmen served very well. Only at a score of 3:3 Gasquet, who was serving, was looking at two break points, which he was able to fender off. Even closer was his next service game. Monfils had five break points straight away. Visibly annoyed Gasquet hit a ball out of the stadium and was cautioned by the umpire. Perhaps this discharged adrenalin because after that he not only won his service, he also got the only break of the round and therefore won the second round 6:4.
A break at a score of 4:3 for Gasquet was to be the preliminary decision. As in the second set he played more precisely, put lots of pressure on Monfils and most of the time got the points. After two hours and one minute Gasquet transformed his first match point.
"It is not easy playing against a friend. Thus this was a difficult match", Richard Gasquet explained, who will now either meet Tommy Haas or the Australian Bernard Tomic in the Round of 16.
