Andy Murray found words of praise for his quasi-contemporaries in a press conference at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells Richard Gasquet.
by Stefan Bergman
last edited: 03/11/2023, 7:12 p.m
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Richard Gasquet and Andy Murray come from the same tennis generation – the Frenchman is almost a year older than the 35-year-old Scot – and the two are not that far apart in the current ATP ranking either. While the Briton is currently in 55th place in the world rankings, Gasquet is in 43rd place in the ATP charts – also due to his somewhat surprising tournament victory in Auckland in mid-January.
Looking at the complete CV, however, Murray was the far more successful player: Not only did he hold the number one position in the men’s rankings for 41 weeks, “Sir Andy” also won three Grand Slam titles (2x Wimbledon, 1x US Open) and two gold medals at the Olympic Games (2012 in London, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro). The southern Frenchman, on the other hand, was “only” three times in major semi-finals (also 2x Wimbledon and 1x US Open), he never really had the Olympic Games on screen during his career.
“I think he’s greatly underestimated”
Especially as a junior, Gasquet had won just about everything there was to win. As a professional, however, as often happens, he was never able to fully keep this promise. Seventh place in the ATP computer was the highest rung that the 36-year-old, who was at times notorious as a southern bon vivant, was able to climb. Nevertheless – or perhaps because of it – Murray demands more respect for the achievements of his long-time opponent: “He still loves the game and I think he is greatly underestimated.”
“I was very happy when I found out Richard won the tournament in Auckland earlier this year because I don’t think he gets the respect he deserves,” said the former world number one. He is very talented, has been a great player for many years and it is nice to see a player of his caliber coming back at that age.
By the way: Murray and Gasquet have met a total of 13 times on the ATP tour since 2005 – the man from Great Britain was the winner nine times. In the second round of the currently held ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells, Murray meets Moldovan Radu Albot in the second round, Gasquet has to prove himself against the eleventh Italian Jannik Sinner.
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