Showing posts with label Richard Gasquet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Richard Gasquet. Show all posts

Monday, August 16

Rooney Mara

Patricia Rooney Mara,
(born 1985) is an American actress. Her films in 2009 include Dare, and the upcoming The Winning Season and Tanner Hall. In 2010, she appeared in Youth in Revolt and starred in A Nightmare on Elm Street, a remake of the 1984 horror film.
Mara will next be seen in The Social Network, a film by David Fincher about the founding of Facebook. She has also been cast as Lisbeth Salander, the lead in Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, an English-language remake of the Swedish smash hit film of the same name.
Mara oversees the charity Faces of Kibera, which benefits orphans from the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya, one of the largest slums in Africa. She is the younger sister of actress Kate Mara.

Early life

Mara was born and raised in Bedford, New York, a town in Westchester County, a suburb of New York City. She is the daughter of Timothy Christopher Mara, the vice president of player evaluation for the New York Giants, and Kathleen McNulty (née Rooney). She has three siblings: Daniel, Conor and Kate. Mara is the great-granddaughter of Pittsburgh Steelers founder Art Rooney, Sr. and Giants founder Tim Mara.Her grandfather, Tim Rooney, has run Yonkers Raceway in Yonkers, New York since 1972, and her uncle, John Mara, is the co-owner of the New York Giants.
Mara graduated from Fox Lane High School and then travelled to Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia in South America for four months as part of the Traveling School, an open learning environment. She attended the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University, where she studied psychology, international social policy, and nonprofits.
Mara was inspired to act by going to see musical theatre and by watching old movies, like Gone with the Wind (1939), Rebecca (1940), and Bringing Up Baby (1938), with her mother. She also wanted to be like her older sister, Kate Mara, a professional actress. Mara resisted pursuing acting as a child, stating to The Journal News that "it never seemed that honorable to me, and I guess I was always afraid that I might fail." While at NYU, she acted in a few student films and won the role of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, after being signed up to audition by a friend. Mara then began pursuing a career in acting.
Acting

Mara made her professional acting debut in a bit-part in the 2005 direct-to-video horror film Urban Legends: Bloody Mary, which starred her sister. She found work in television, appearing on the New York City-based drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2006, as a girl who dislikes fat people. She guest-starred on the legal drama Women's Murder Club in 2007, and played a drug addict in an episode of The Cleaner in 2008.[8] Mara appeared in the feature films Dream Boy and Friends (With Benefits) that year, and guest-starred as Megan for two episodes of NBC's ER in 2009.
Mara landed her first lead role in the film Tanner Hall, starring Amy Sedaris and Tom Everett Scott, a story of four girls set in a boarding school. Mara played Fernanda, who has an affair with a married family friend (Tom Everett Scott).[9] Mara dropped her first name, Patricia, to be known professionally by her middle name after working on the film. "I never really liked my first name," Mara stated to Paper magazine. "I never felt like a Tricia. And Rooney is more memorable".
Mara's experience lead to other film work, she appeared in the comedy Youth in Revolt, starring Michael Cera and directed by Miguel Arteta. The film is based on the 1993 cult novel of the same name by C.D. Payne.Mara played Taggarty, the love interest of Cera’s best friend. Her character tries to sleep with 50 guys before she goes to college.
Mara appeared in the 2009 independent film Dare as Courtney, the best friend of Alexa (Emmy Rossum), a high school student set on expanding her life experience. She also filmed The Winning Season that year, starring Emma Roberts and Sam Rockwell, playing a high school basketball player in a story similar to The Bad News Bears. Dare and The Winning Season premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Mara was included on Filmmaker magazine's list of "25 New Faces of Independent Film" that year.
Mara starred in A Nightmare on Elm Street, a 2010 remake of the 1984 horror film of the same name. She played the protagonist Nancy Holbrook, based on the original film's Nancy Thompson, a teenage girl who is eager to leave town after graduating from high school. Mara began shooting the film in Chicago on May 5, 2009, directed by Samuel Bayer. Mara told Filmmaker that she felt that the remake's Nancy was "completely different from the original" and could be described as "the loneliest girl in the world". The film was released on April 30, 2010. Depending on its box office performance, Mara will appear in a sequel to the remake, continuing her role as Nancy.
Mara appeared at the Hamptons International Film Festival in October 2009 as part of its Breakthrough Performers Program, where she was tutored alongside Zach Gilford, Emmy Rossum and Emma Stone by Sharon Stone.[20] In October 2009, Mara shot the independent feature Kaboom, written and directed by Gregg Araki, about the sexual awakening of a group of college students. She joined Roxane Mesquida, Thomas Dekker, and Kelly Lynch in the cast of the film.
Mara will appear in the 2010 film The Social Network by David Fincher, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake. Her character breaks up with Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, which inspires him to start the social networking website. In August 2010, Mara won the role of Lisbeth Salander over several other actresses in the upcoming Sony Pictures film adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. David Fincher will direct the film, based on the novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The film will begin shooting in Sweden in September 2010; a release date of December 21, 2011 has been set.
Faces of Kibera

Mara oversees the charity Faces of Kibera, which provides housing, food, and medical care for orphans in Kibera, a slum in Nairobi, Kenya where approximately 1 million people live in a single square mile. The charity's goal is to build an orphanage in the region, for which 6 acres of land have been purchased. The charity auctions memorabilia from the Steelers and Giants, as well as training camp events on eBay to raise money.
Mara visited the area as a volunteer, at age 21, and was moved to help the orphans, many whose parents have died from AIDS and HIV-related illnesses. She began the charity due to her frustration with, according to Mara, the growing number of nonprofits that are just business opportunities. "The people who need help aren’t really getting it. So I started my own", she told Interview magazine in 2009. Mara was not really working yet when she started the charity, so now finds it challenging to balance her charity work with her acting career. "I need to do both; I can't just do acting,“ she stated to The Journal News.
Personal life

Mara moved to Los Angeles in early 2007, and lived with her sister temporarily. Although they do not live together anymore, Mara felt that the experience brought them closer together, and they still regularly discuss the film business and movie scripts. Mara described football as "....the glue that holds our family together," to the New York Post. She includes Gena Rowlands among the actors that inspire her, especially her performances in A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Opening Night (1977).
Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2005 Urban Legends: Bloody Mary Classroom Girl #1
2006 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Jessica DeLay TV series - in the episode "Fat"
2007 Women's Murder Club Alexis Sherman TV series - in the episode "Blind Dates and Bleeding Hearts"
2008 Dream Boy Evelyn
The Cleaner Rebecca Smith TV series - in the episode "Rebecca"
2009 Dare Courtney
The Winning Season Wendy
ER Megan TV series - in the episodes "Old Times" and "I Feel Good"
Tanner Hall Fernanda
Friends (With Benefits) Tara
2010 Youth in Revolt Taggarty
A Nightmare on Elm Street Nancy Holbrook
Kaboom
The Social Network

(source:wikipedia)

Monday, May 24

Richard Gasquet

Richard Gasquet (French pronunciation: [ʁiʃaʁ ɡasˈkɛ]) (born 18 June 1986) is a professional tennis player. He won the mixed doubles Grand Slam title at the 2004 French Open, partnering Tatiana Golovin. He reached a singles career high of World Number 7 in July 2007 after making it to the semi-finals of Wimbledon 2007. Later that year, Gasquet qualified for the 2007 Tennis Masters Cup. He is currently the World No. 68.

Career

Early years
Gasquet was born in Béziers in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. He is the only child in the family. He began playing tennis at the age of 4 under the guidance of his father, Francis, who ran a tennis club, the TC Sérignan, along with his mother Maryse. He appeared on the cover of French Tennis Magazine aged only 9, and was touted as an extremely promising prospect even at such an early age. He was coached by his father during his junior career, and by Tarik Benhabiles for a short period. Since turning professional he has been coached by Eric Deblicker and Guillame Peyre. In February 2010, he hired coach Gabriel Markus, who has worked with Marat Safin and David Nalbandian in the past.
He made his debut on the ATP tour in April, 2002, at the Tennis Masters Series tournament at Monte Carlo where he received a wildcard into qualifying and became the youngest player ever to qualify for a Tennis Masters event. At the age of 15 years, 10 months, he defeated Argentina's Franco Squillari in the first round of that tournament to become the youngest player to win a tour-level main draw match since Tommy Ho at Rye Brook in 1988.
Gasquet made his Grand Slam tournament debut at the 2002 French Open at the age of 15 years, 11 months, nine days. He was the second-youngest player ever to compete in the main draw there. Despite his lack of experience, he managed to take a set off the eventual champion Albert Costa in the first round. Gasquet finished 2002 as the no. 1 junior in the world and was named World Junior Champion, having won the junior titles at the French Open and the US Open. He was also the youngest player to finish in year-end ATP top 200.
Gasquet finished 2003 as the youngest player to finish a year inside the ATP top 100. In 2004, he reached his first ATP tournament final at Metz, but lost to fellow countryman Jérôme Haehnel 7–6, 6–4. He also won the mixed doubles trophy at the French Open that year, partnering Tatiana Golovin.




2005


Gasquet missed the first seven weeks of the 2005 season due to chickenpox. Upon his recovery he won back to back challenger titles in March. In April, riding the momentum of a 10 match winning streak, Gasquet reached the semifinals of the Masters Series tournament at Monte Carlo, handing world number one Roger Federer a surprise 7-6, 2-6, 7–6 (8) defeat in the quarterfinal. He saved 3 match points before closing it out in a 10–8 tiebreak. As a result, he became the youngest French player ever to defeat a world number one. However, the eventual champion Rafael Nadal got the better of him in the semi beating Gasquet 6–7, 6–4, 6–3.
Fresh off of his win over world No. 1 Federer and having just beaten Paradorn Srichaphan in straight sets, the rising teen disappointingly lost against Andre Agassi 6–2, 6–3 at Rome's Masters tennis tournament. A month later, he reached the final of the Hamburg Masters, where, this time, he was defeated by Roger Federer in 3 sets.
In May, he won his first Grand Slam singles match at Roland Garros. On June 18, his 19th birthday, he won his first ATP title, defeating Max Mirnyi in the final of the grass court tournament at Nottingham, England. He then made his Davis Cup debut against Russia in July where he won his first rubber against Igor Andreev but lost his second against Nikolay Davydenko.
Gasquet had to miss the last 2 months of the season because of an elbow injury. He finished the year as French number 1 for the first time.



2006
In 2006, Gasquet had a slow start after a first round defeat to Tommy Haas at the Australian Open. He later avenged this defeat in the Davis Cup 1st round tie against Germany where he beat Haas in 5 sets. However he lost both his singles rubbers in the quarter-final tie versus Russia, and suffered an abdominal injury in that tie which left him out of action for a month. Having struggled to find any form after his comeback during the clay season, Gasquet went out in the 2nd round of the French Open to David Nalbandian, 6–2, 3–6, 7–5 6–0.
Following on from a disappointing opening half to his season, in the space of 3 weeks he successfully defended his title at Nottingham, lost in a first round meeting with Roger Federer at Wimbledon, and won his 2nd title of the year, on clay, in Gstaad. Gasquet's form continued to improve heading towards the US Open, as he reached the final of the Masters Seriers event in Toronto, again being halted by Federer, in 3 sets 2–6, 6–3, 6–2. He reached the fourth round of the US Open for the 2nd year in a row where he lost to Lleyton Hewitt in 5 sets.
In October he won his 3rd title of the year, this time on indoor carpet, in Lyon, completing his achievement of reaching finals on all four surfaces during the year. His season ended when he withdrew in the third round of the Paris Masters due to illness. He ended the year as French number 1 for the second straight year.



2007
Gasquet's 2007 started with a quarterfinal in Adelaide, followed by a semifinal in Sydney. He went on to reach the fourth round of the 2007 Australian Open, losing to Tommy Robredo in 4 sets. At the Monte Carlo Masters Series tournament, he notched up his first win over a top 10 opponent of the year, winning his 3rd round match over Ivan Ljubičić, ranked 8 at the time. However he then lost his quarter-final to twice former Monte Carlo champion Juan Carlos Ferrero. Gasquet reached his first final of the season two weeks later, at Estoril, but the up and coming Serbian player Novak Đoković got the better of him in 3 sets.

He reached the doubles final of the 2007 Monte Carlo Masters with Julien Benneteau, where the French team lost to Bob and Mike Bryan. Despite losing in round 2 of the 2007 French Open to Kristof Vliegen, he rose two spots to a career high #11.
Gasquet then made his first grand slam semi-final at Wimbledon. He beat fellow Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on his way to a quarter-final showdown with Andy Roddick. In one of the great Wimbledon quarter-finals, Gasquet recovered from a sluggish start and a deficit of two sets and a break in the third, to upset the two-time finalist by a scoreline of 4–6, 4–6, 7–6, 7–6, 8–6. Gasquet managed to score an amazing 93 winners, many of which were with his almost 'trademark' backhand down the line.
He lost in the semifinals to Roger Federer (who beat him in the first round of the same event the previous year), 7–5, 6–3, 6–4. He made his top 10 debut, at #7, as a result. The following week in Gstaad, as defending champion, he defeated Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo and avenged his Roland Garros loss to Kristof Vliegen, but lost in the quarters to Igor Andreev 7–5 6–2. He bowed out at the 2007 U.S Open because of a virus. Gasquet returned to action in Mumbai, India winning his 5th career ATP title beating Olivier Rochus in the final. He followed this up by reaching the final of the Tokyo ATP tournament, losing to David Ferrer in straight sets.
He then took a few weeks break and then went to play in 2007 Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon where he was defending champion. He lost to fellow frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (who he beat at Wimbledon) in the 3rd round in straight sets.
At the 2007 Paris Masters, Gasquet defeated Tsonga after his loss at Lyon in the second round and sixth seed James Blake in the third round 6–4, 6–4. He beat Andy Murray in the quarterfinals, 6–3, 0–6, 6–4 to reach the semifinals, where he was stopped by David Nalbandian in straight sets. With his performance in Paris, Gasquet qualified for the Tennis Masters Cup, clinching 8th place.
At the Tennis Masters Cup, Gasquet was defeated by Rafael Nadal 3–6, 6–3, 6–4, in his first round-robin match. He then defeated Novak Ðoković 6–4, 6–2, but lost to David Ferrer, 6–1, 6–1. Gasquet failed to qualify for the semifinals, finishing in third place in his group.
[edit]2008
Gasquet started out the year as the top seed of the Sydney Medibank International but made an early second round exit to eventual champion Dmitry Tursunov, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4. Gasquet played with compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the doubles final of the Sydney Medibank International, scoring a major upset over world number one duo Bob and Mike Bryan (4–6, 6–4, 11–9). The French combination came back from two match points down to win the championship and deny the Bryan brothers ever winning the tournament.


Richard Gasquet in the first round at the 2008 Australian Open
Gasquet's first round match in the Australian Open was against Australian Nick Lindahl. He won 6–0 6–1 3–6 6–2. Gasquet's second round match in the Australian Open was against Spaniard Feliciano López. He got through to the fourth round after defeating 31st seed Igor Andreev in four sets (6–3,6–2, 4–6,6–4). In the round of 16 at the Australian Open, Gasquet lost in 4 sets to eventual finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (6–4, 6–7, 7–6, 6–3).
At his next two tournaments, the Open 13 at Marseille, France, and the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, Gasquet suffered second round defeats to Robin Söderling (Sweden) 6–4, 3–6, 2–6; and Igor Andreev (Russia) 3–6, 4–6. At the ATP Masters Series tournament in Indian Wells, California, Gasquet avenged his loss to Robin Söderling in the first round 6–3, 6–2. However, in the fourth round, he lost in straight sets to James Blake (U.S.A.) 4–6, 2–6.
At the ATP Masters Series tournament in Key Biscayne, Florida, he lost his opening round match to Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) 3–6, 7–6(2), 6–7(5). And at the U.S.A. v. France World Group Quarterfinal Davis Cup match, Gasquet lost in three sets to American James Blake 7–6(4), 4–6, 4–6 in his opening round match. Then in a controversial move, he later told French Davis Cup Captain, Guy Forget that he was opting out of his key match against Andy Roddick (U.S.A.) in their reverse singles matchup.
After winning his first round match at the Monte Carlo Masters tournament, Gasquet's poor form continued as he lost his second round match to Sam Querrey (U.S.A.) 6–2, 4–6, 3–6; and then both of his opening round matches at the ATP Masters Series events in Rome and Hamburg to Luis Horna (Peru) 4–6, 1–6; and to Andreas Seppi (Italy) 3–6, 2–6; respectively.
With a string of disappointing results behind him, Gasquet admitted to feeling burned out, in dire need of a concerted rest from tennis and admitted a reluctance to play the French Open, the year's second Grand Slam. However he changed coaches immediately ahead of the French Open, and then later decided to pull out of his first round match against Florent Serra, (France) citing a left knee injury problem.
Gasquet, later announced his decision to not take part in the upcoming Summer Olympic games in Beijing, preferring instead to prepare for the US Open which began at the end of the summer hardcourt season in August. He joined fellow world top 10 player Andy Roddick, American Mardy Fish and former top 10 player Tommy Haas of Germany, a silver medalist in 2000 at the Sydney Olympic Games, who all opted out of that year's Olympic games.
At the new tennis rankings posted on June 9, 2008, Gasquet fell one place from world number 9 to world number 10 in the world.
Gasquet began the grass court season at the The Artois Championships at Queen's Club, London where he defeated Mario Ančić of Croatia 7–6 (5), 6–4 in the second round, and Italian Simone Bolelli 6–3, 6–3 in the third round. However in his quarterfinal match he fell to David Nalbandian of Argentina 4–6, 6–3, 6–7 (3). This was Gasquet's first Quarterfinal appearance in a tournament this year.
At the Ordina Open in Den Bosch, Netherlands Gasquet was the second seed and defeated Olivier Rochus of Belgium 6–2, 7–6 (3) in the first round but then lost his second round match to Frenchman Marc Gicquel 7–5, 7–6 (6).
At the Wimbledon Championships, Gasquet was the eight seed and defeated American Mardy Fish in the first round 6–3, 6–4, 6–2. In his next two matches he defeated a pair of his French compatriots, beating Sébastien Grosjean 6–2, 6–2 ret. in the second round; and Gilles Simon 6–3, 6–3, 6–7 (7), 6–3 in the third round. He went out to Britain's Andy Murray in the fourth round 5–7, 3–6, 7–6 (7–3), 6–2, 6–4; despite serving for the match at 5–4 in the third.
At the new tennis rankings posted on Monday, July 7, 2008, Gasquet fell five places from world number 10 to world number 15, making it the first time in nine months since his ranking fell outside the top 10, and the lowest he has been ranked since April '07.
At the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany, Gasquet was the second seed and reached his first ATP tour semifinal and final of the year when he defeated Czech qualifier Lukas Rosol 6–7(7), 6–2, 6–2 in the first round; and then defeated Spaniard Albert Montañés 6–3, 7–6(5) in the quarterfinals. Gasquet beat sixth-seeded Argentine Agustín Calleri in the semifinals 6–7(3), 6–2, 6–3; to reach his first final of the year. Favourite to win the tournament, Gasquet suffered a surprise defeat in the finals to Argentine teenager Juan Martín del Potro in straight sets, 6–4, 7–5.
As of 14 July 2008, Gasquet improved his ranking to four places at world number 11. His ranking dropped to world number 12 one week later.
Gasquet overcame compatriot and friend Michaël Llodra in the first round of the Canada Masters, 6–2, 4–6, 6–3. He defeated Russian qualifier Alexandre Kudryavtsev in straight sets, 7–5 6–3. He advanced to the quarter finals after defeating 5th seeded David Ferrer, 6–3 6–3. He then lost to Rafael Nadal in three sets, 6–7, 6–2, 6–1. Gasquet also played doubles with training partner Nicolas Mahut against Andy Murray and Jamie Murray, losing 7–6, 6–2.
Gasquet began with a first round win over Frenchman Michaël Llodra in Cincinnati Masters, after Llodra retired, 3–6, 6–1, 1–0. He then lost in the second round to Dmitry Tursunov in straight sets, 7–6(8), 6–0.
Gasquet made an early first round exit from US Open, losing against Tommy Haas 6–7 6–4 5–7 7–5 6–2.



2009

Richard started his 2009 tour season at the Brisbane International in Brisbane, Australia. Gasquet came back from a set down to defeat Marc Gicquel in the first round 4–6 6–2 6–2. Richard then had a straight sets win over American Taylor Dent in the second round, 7–5 6–4. Richard then pulled off an upset by defeating the number 2 seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Quarter Finals, 1–6 6–4 6–2. Richard lost to Radek Štěpánek in the Semi-Finals 6–2 2–6 4–6.
Richard then traveled to Sydney, Australia for the Medibank International. He defeated defending champion Dmitry Tursunov in the first round 7–6(4) 6–4. He then defeated second seed and compatriot, Gilles Simon in straight sets, 6–4 6–4. Gasquet then defeated countryman Jérémy Chardy 6–2 7–6(4) before losing to David Nalbandian in the semi-final, 6–4 6–3.
At the Australian Open he won his first round match against Argentine Diego Junqueira, 6–7(5) 7–6(3) 6–3 6–4. He defeated Denis Istomin in the second round, 6–3 6–4 6–4. In the third round, he lost to Fernando González 3–6 3–6 7–6(10) 6–2 12–10 in a match that lasted over four hours. He held a match point in the 3rd set tiebreak, but was unable to convert it into a win which eventually cost him the match in the end.
Richard had to pull out of the tournament in Marseille because of a right shoulder injury. His next tournament was scheduled to be Dubai. In the first round he managed to defeat Marat Safin, 6–3 5–7 6–3. He then defeated Italian Simone Bolelli, 6–7(4) 6–3 7–6(5) and received a bye to the semi-final following Andy Murray's withdrawal due to illness. Richard was then defeated by David Ferrer 2–6 2–6.
He then participated in the Davis Cup to represent France with compatriots Gilles Simon, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gaël Monfils against the Czech Republic in the first round. Gasquet teamed up with Michaël Llodra (who replaced Monfils) to play the doubles rubber on day two but lost in 4 sets against Radek Štěpánek and Tomáš Berdych. France then went on to lose the tie 2–3, the first time they exited in the first round since 2000.
His next tournament; at the BNP Paribas Open Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, he received a bye in the first round and then breezed past compatriot Michaël Llodra 6–4 6–0. But he was dumped out by Fernando Verdasco 3–6 2–6 in the third round.
On 9 May 2009, French sports daily L'Équipe reported that he had tested positive for cocaine in March 2009, following his withdrawal from a tournament in Miami. [3] On 5 June 2009, in an interview with the same newspaper, Richard Gasquet denies having taken cocaine notably quoting the fact that the amount found accounts for 1/10th of a rail line. [4] Gasquet was provisionnally suspended, but was later cleared due to his explanation that he had inadvertently consumed the drug after kissing a woman who had consumed it at a party.  As of 16 July 2009, he is thus able to compete again. Gascquet warmly praised Rafael Nadal for his support during the period of his ban: "Rafa supported me more than anyone in the last few months and if he ever needs me to help him, I will do what I can. I'll never forget what he's done for me. Now I just want to get out and play."
After months of being sidelined, Gasquet made his return to the tour at the Pilot Pen championship in New Haven to qualify for the main draw, but lost in the 2nd round of qualifying.
Playing in his first Grand Slam since January, Gasquet was drawn to face Rafael Nadal in the first round of the US Open, but lost 6–2, 6–2, 6–3. Despite the obvious signs of rustiness, Gasquet played well, considering his three month absence but was unable to overcome Nadal.
He played in his next tournament at the Open de Moselle in Metz. He made a solid run; beating Michael Berrer [6–3 2–6 7–6(5)], Christophe Rochus [7–5 4–6 6–2], and Philipp Petzschner [6–7(2) 6–1 6–3] to reach his first ATP semi-finals since January. Unfortunately his run ended at the hands of compatriot and eventual champion of the tournament, Gaël Monfils [4–6 3–6].
He also made a quarterfinal run in the Kuala Lumpur Open 250 tournament in Malaysia, losing to Fernando Verdasco 5–7 4–6 (despite holding a 3–0 lead in the first set). His season came to a conclusion after this tournament.




Gasquet began the season at the Brisbane International. He defeated Jarkko Nieminen 6-3 4-6, 6-4 and Australian qualifer Matthew Edben 6-3, 6-4, but he lost to Andy Roddick in the quarter finals 3-6, 6-7(5). He then entered the Medibank International in Sydney. There he beat Feliciano López 6-1, 6-4 in the first round. In the second round he defeated Benjamin Becker 6-2, 7-6(4). In the Quarter-Finals, Gasquet defeated Potito Starace 6-3 7-6(7) and Julien Benneteau 6-4 7-5 in the semi-finals. However, he lost in the final to Marcos Baghdatis 4-6, 6-7(2).
At the Australian Open, he lost to Mikhail Youzhny 7-6(9), 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-7(4), 4-6 in the first round, despite having match point several times in the third and fourth sets. He was also a break up in the 5th set, but in the end he couldn't close out the opportunities.
Richard withdrew from both the Movistar Open and the 2010 Brasil Open due to a recurring injury, but returned at the 2010 Copa Telmex were he lost in the first round to Juan Ignacio Chela 6-7(3), 5-7. Next, Gasquet played at Abierto Mexicano Telcel where he defeated Carlos Moyá 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the first round. In the second round however, he lost to defending champion Nicolás Almagro 6-3, 5-7, 6-7(7).
He lost in the first round of both the 2010 BNP Paribas Open to Simon Greul 6-7(6), 6-7(7) and the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open to Olivier Rochus 6-7(2), 6-1, 4-6. In April, he played at the 2010 Grand Prix Hassan II where he defeated, Olivier Rochus and Andrey Golubev in the same scoreline 6-1, 6-1 respectively. In the quarterfinals he lost Romanian Victor Hănescu in a tough three set match 6-7(3), 6-4, 3-6.
Next he played at the 2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. He advanced through to the second round after a three set win over Spain's Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-2, 4-6, 6-2. Unfortunately he was soundly beaten in the second round to 10th seed Tomáš Berdych 2-6, 0-6.
He lost to Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 6-3 in the second round of 2010 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell after defeating Igor Andreev 7-6(5), 6-4 in the first round.
Gasquet defeated Olivier Rochus for the second time this year with a 6-0, 6-1 victory in the Serbian Open and survived against Andreas Seppi 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in over two hours. Gasquet then lost in a tough two hour and twenty minute match against John Isner 6-2, 6-7(6), 3-6 while being two points away from victory and a break up in the final set. After this upsetting loss, Richard then played in the ATP Tour Challenger event in the 2010 BNP Paribas Primrose Bordeaux where he defeated Thierry Ascione, Alex Bogdanovic, Olivier Rochus and Florent Serra in straight sets respectively, and then in the final he defeated Michaël Llodra of France a tough encounter, 4-6 6-1 6-4.
Gasquet then came in with good form and confidence as he entered the 2010 Open de Nice Côte d’Azur as preparation for the French Open. He won his opening match against the Slovak Lukáš Lacko 6-3, 6-0 before advancing to the Quarterfinals with a hard-fought 6-0, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine. He then defeated Belgian Olivier Rochus (for the 3rd time this year) 6-4, 6-2 and Potito Starace 7-6(1), 7-6(6) to reach his third final (but his second in ATP-level) this year. In the final against No.2 seed Fernando Verdasco, Gasquet blew a 6-3, 5-4 lead (while serving for the match), but eventually prevailed 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(5) to end his two and a half year title drought. As a result, he brought his head-to-head series against Verdasco at 5-5, while snapping a five match losing streak against him.
Richard will compete at the 2010 French Open, where he has been handed a very tough opening round draw against the fourth seed Andy Murray.


Playing style


Gasquet is noted for his powerful and precise single-handed backhand, his flair and shot-making ability and is also known for his speed around the court. He is an all-court player. Gasquet's single-handed backhand features a high take back, utilising gravity, coils up (very low to the ground), and slowly unwinds, unleashing one of the best backhands on the ATP tour. However, his forehand can be considered a weaker shot. He is capable of hitting big winners with his forehand, but in general, his rally forehand lacks consistent depth.
Gasquet has earned much praise for his "natural talent".[2] One of the accolades he has received is recognition of his ability to play all-round complete tennis. During a Davis cup match against Marat Safin, British TV presenter Barry Cowan described him as "naturally more talented than Federer". Many, including Peter Fleming, have sung similar praises of the Frenchman.



Equipment

Gasquet uses the Head Liquidmetal Instinct XL racquet painted as Youtek Extreme Pro with Tournagrip, and wears clothing by Lacoste. His shoe of choice is Asics. He also has Laguardere Tags on his sleeves.



Major finals

Grand Slam finals
Mixed doubles: 1 (1–0)
Wins (1)
Outcome Year Championship Partner Opponent in Final Score in Final
Winner 2004 French Open Tatiana Golovin Cara Black
Wayne Black 6–3, 6–4

Masters Series finals
Singles: 2 (0–2)
Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 2005 Hamburg Clay Roger Federer 6–3, 7–5, 7–6(4)
Runner-up 2006 Toronto Hard Roger Federer 2–6, 6–3, 6–2


Doubles: 1 (0–1)
Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 2007 Monte Carlo Clay Julien Benneteau Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan 6–2, 6–1

Career finals

Singles: 13 (6–7)
Wins (6)
Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (0)
ATP International Series Gold (0)
ATP Tour (6)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
1. June 13, 2005 Nottingham, United Kingdom Grass Max Mirnyi 6–2, 6–3
2. June 19, 2006 Nottingham, UK Grass Jonas Björkman 6–4, 6–3
3. July 10, 2006 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Feliciano López 7–6(4), 6–7 (3), 6–3, 6–3
4. October 23, 2006 Lyon, France Carpet (i) Marc Gicquel 6–3, 6–1
5. September 30, 2007 Mumbai, India Hard Olivier Rochus 6–3, 6–4
6. May 22, 2010 Nice, France Clay Fernando Verdasco 6–3, 5–7, 7–6(5)
Runner-ups (7)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
1. October 11, 2004 Metz, France Hard (i) Jérôme Haehnel 7–69, 6–4
2. May 9, 2005 Hamburg, Germany Clay Roger Federer 6–3, 7–5, 7–64
3. August 7, 2006 Toronto, Canada Hard Roger Federer 2–6, 6–3, 6–2
4. April 29, 2007 Estoril, Portugal Clay Novak Djokovic 7–67, 0–6, 6–1
5. October 1, 2007 Tokyo, Japan Hard David Ferrer 6–1, 6–2
6. July 13, 2008 Stuttgart, Germany Clay Juan Martín del Potro 6–4, 7–5
7. January 16, 2010 Sydney, Australia Hard Marcos Baghdatis 6–4, 7–62


Doubles: 2 (2–2)
Wins (2)
Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (0)
ATP International Series Gold (0)
ATP Tour (2)
No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score in the final
1. May 8, 2006 Metz, France Hard (i) Fabrice Santoro Julian Knowle
Jürgen Melzer 3–6, 6–1, [11–9]
2. January 7, 2008 Sydney, Australia Hard Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan 4–6, 6–4, [11–9]
Runner-ups (2)
No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score in the final
1. April 14, 2007 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Julien Benneteau Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan 6–2, 6–1
2. November 1, 2009 St. Petersburg, Russia Hard (i) Jérémy Chardy Colin Fleming
Ken Skupski 2–6, 7–5, [10–4]


Performance timeline

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only after a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. Davis Cup matches are included in the statistics. This table is current through to the end of the 2009 Indian Wells Masters.
Tournament 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Career SR Career win–loss
Australian Open A 1R 1R A 1R 4R 4R 3R 1R 0 / 7 8–7
French Open 1R 1R 1R 3R 2R 2R A A 0 / 6 4–6
Wimbledon A A 1R 4R 1R SF 4R A 0 / 5 11–5
U.S. Open LQ A LQ 4R 4R 2R 1R 1R 0 / 5 7–4
Grand Slam SR 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 23 N/A
Grand Slam Win–Loss 0–1 0–2 0–3 8–3 4–4 10–3 6–3 2–2 0–1 N/A 30–22
ATP World Tour Finals A A A A A RR A A 0 / 1 1–2
Indian Wells Masters A A A A 4R 4R 4R 3R 1R 0 / 5 7–5
Miami Masters A 1R A A 2R 3R 2R A 1R 0 / 5 1–5
Monte Carlo Masters 2R 1R LQ SF A QF 3R A 2R 0 / 6 10–6
Rome Masters A A A 2R A 2R 1R 3R A 0 / 4 4–4
Madrid Masters A A A A 2R 2R 3R A A 0 / 3 2–3
Hamburg Masters A A A F 1R 2R 2R NMS 0 / 4 6–4
Canada Masters A A A 2R F 2R QF A 0 / 4 9–4
Cincinnati Masters A A A 2R 1R 2R 2R A 0 /4 3–4
Shanghai Masters Not Masters Series 1R 0 / 1 0–1
Paris Masters LQ 1R LQ A 3R SF A A 0 / 3 4–3
Total Titles 0 0 0 1 3 1 0 0 1 N/A 6
Hardcourt Win–Loss 0–0 2–5 4–4 8–4 14–12 26–12 18-13 11-6 6-5 N/A 72–50
Grass Win–Loss 0–1 0–0 0–2 11–2 6–2 7–3 6-3 0-0 0–0 N/A 30–13
Carpet Win–Loss 0–1 0–1 0–0 0–0 6–3 4–2 1-1 0-0 0–0 N/A 11–8
Clay Win–Loss 1–3 0–2 9–9 13–5 7–4 12–7 7-5 3-2 12-6 N/A 57–37
Overall Win–Loss 1–5 2–8 13–15 32–11 33–21 49–24 32-22 22-15 18-11 N/A 202–132
Year End Ranking 161 93 107 16 18 8 24 52 N/A N/A
A = did not participate in the tournament.
LQ = lost in the qualifying draw.
SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
Source:wikipedia