The start of the match by Borna Gojo, a hell of a puncher, was cause for concern with his three aces in a row. But Richard Gasquet had the parade. It was necessary to work and move this inconstant opponent in his risky game, varying the effects and angles. The French led 6-4, 2-0, before falling asleep a little, while the Croatian (121st) found success in his aggressiveness and his service (20 aces in total) to extricate himself as the winner of a tie-break that he concluded with two forehand attacks.
But in the last round, it was Gasquet who finished the strongest, in the same line of breakout rallies. In the salvo of winning backhands of all kinds, he added one of a new type to break away at 4-2, countering a smash with two hands to make it a winning point. “The first two-handed backhand passing of my life,” he smiled. A huge blow! » He thus signed his first victory in Indian Wells since … 2016, the 595th of his career, and the third since his title in Auckland at the beginning of January.
“But I wasn’t ridiculous in February. At the physical level I made big matches. There is a certain consistency. We are in mid-March and this is my seventh tournament. There, I didn’t really know what to expect. But I played well. Until 6-4, 2-0 was perfect. The tie-break escapes me, but I knew how to start again. And I ended up less tired than him, who is 25 years old. » In the next round he will test himself as an even younger player he has never met: Jannik Sinner. An interesting challenge against someone who “hits hard, he puts a lot of intensity”.
