Gasquet, the tennis player who was better than Nadal but who has never beaten him

A rivalry from fingerlings that has resulted in a repeated result up to 16 times in professionals. The history of Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet will live a new chapter this Thursday, on the center court of Roland Garros, after many years of competition diminished by the meteoric takeoff of the one considered one of the best tennis players in history. Although Gasquet was “a little better” as a child, as Nadal recognized, now there is no color, and everything indicates that Rafa will add his seventeenth victory against his great childhood rival. a complicated picture for Nadal, who should meet Novak Djokovic in the semifinals if he wants to raise his fourteenth championship gig in Paris. However, in the second round there could also be a duel with striking overtones, the reunion with a Richard Gasquet with whom he fought face to face in lower categories, both being considered the new standard bearers of tennis since the generation of 86, with only 15 days of difference between their dates of birth. Rafael and Richard shared talent, first letter in the name and soaring expectations. In fact, at a time when Nadal’s physique did not make so many differences, the talent of the magical French player prevailed on more than one occasion, with a hypnotic one-handed backhand. “We both represented the new generation at that time. The two of us had grown up being very prominent in all categories, he was a little better than me, he was the future French star, “Nadal said in 2018, the date of the last confrontation between the two. Rafael sweeps professionals Gasquet was a little superior when they were children , but the move to professionalism gave another face to the rivalry.Nadal, physically developed and with a mentality superior to that of Gasquet, surpassed him with difficulty in his first two duels on the clay of Estoril (2004) and Montecarlo (2005), before at Roland Garros, months after the second match between Both, Rafa gave the final blow to his then archrival.The final victory of the manacorense (6-4, 6-3, 6-2) supposed a blow too hard for Gasquet in his particular head to head with Rafa, of which still he has not been able to raise his head. The Frenchman has developed a remarkable career, already in decline, but in which he reached titles, Grand Slam semifinals and the Top 10, but never, on the 16 occasions in which Nadal has been measured as a professional, has he was able to raise his arms in a sign of victory.Nadal wants to celebrate his birthday with victory “It is a huge frustration to have asked so many times against him, it is something unpleasant,” acknowledged Gasquet after overcoming his first-round commitment against Gaston and meeting the number a Spanish one in the second round. The Frenchman, who has never hidden his admiration for Rafa’s career, recalled the first duel between the two in Paris. «You could see that he was a different type, that he did not have the same level. I couldn’t imagine that I was going to win 13 Roland Garros times, but I was going to win many, ”he recalled. Now, in 53rd place in the ranking, Gasquet seems to be on the irreparable slope of his career.His innate quality still gives him to tie some level victory, such as the one recently harvested against Schwartzmann in Lyon, but his ratio of wins and losses in 2021 (8-6 after beating Gaston) does not bode well against a Nadal who In addition to meeting an old friend, he will want to celebrate his 35th birthday with a new victory, 102, at Roland Garros.