Gasquet and the 4th round comfort zone

Yet again, Gasquet has comfortably reached the 4th round of a slam, looking good in the first week. Up next is Wawrinka - a match of oh la la single-handed backhands in prospect for those of us who like that sort of thing. Gasquet seems to be a pretty consistent player these days - frequently avoids the 1st and 2nd round losses in slams, and regularly despatches lower ranked players with authority. He's also pretty versatile, and (without checking Wikipedia!) I believe he's won (minor) tournaments on all surfaces.

However, as soon as he plays one of the top players in a slam (generally the top 10, but especially the top 4 and Ferrer!), typically in the 4th round, he crumbles like flaky pastry, with no fight or backbone, and looks a shadow of the confident player who glides with ease through the draw in the first week.

When Gasquet is on song and going for his shots (as opposed to when he plays an odd lacklustre defensive game) he's great to watch, and he has a really nicely crafted game for grass. However, he really does seem to lack the fight to win those big matches, especially when the going gets tough (compare and contrast to say Murray, who is an expert and grafting away and winning matches when he's not playing well).

Wawrinka is also known for his flakiness, but I suspect in their 4th round match we'll see that bit more fight from the Swiss when it really matters, and there'll be another 4th round exit for Gasquet. If you were his coach, you'd have your work cut-out, getting him to stand further up the court, working on the fitness, and intensive work with a sports psychologist!

Wawrinka is a very different man these days, and will make the quarters.
As I said 2-3 days back, he's my equine nocturne of RG2013...

Absolutely agree with your analysis, Gasquet has to be the most frustrating player of the modern era.

At full flow and with confidence brimming his game is as beautiful to watch as the great man himself. His lack of self-belief at the later stages of a tournament however is frightening, and it's painful to watch him retreat further and further onto the back foot when his real game is all about attack.

I still fancy him to get past Wawrinka, but that's as far as it goes. Definitely the highlight match of the 4th round though for me.

I share Lydian's view on this. Wawrinka is perhaps in the form of his life and I both expect and want him to win. I also think that when playing at their best, Wawrinka has a better chance to give top guys trouble.

I think he can give Rafa a fight if they both reach QF. He was knackered by the time he reached Madrid final and did not do himself justice there. Of course, one still expects Rafa to win, but I think it could be closer than one might expect at first blush. On the other hand, I do not see Richard giving Rafa any trouble at all.

His tennis in the 5th set against Roddick at Wimbledon, I think in about 2007, was great, and he's never really kicked on from there. He's flatlined since then very roughly speaking and it's up to him to prove he can do better now.

On your point about the early rounds, of the various players who haven't lost a set yet, Gasquet is the only one that hasn't even been taken to 5-5.

There's another thread about "underachieving" Gael Monfils, but it could be argued that Gasquet is one of the worst underachievers in recent years.
He has bags of talent and should have been a regular fixture in the top five. I fully expect him to fold against Stan W today.

I have to favour Wawrinka here. These are the sort of matches I would expect him to win and has been in a good run of form of late. Gasquet is a fine fine player but one that you are always waiting to implode mentally.

Wawrinka, plain and simply put, is a better player. Better mover. Better forehand. Better serve. Better at closing out. Gasquet is a backhand, a glorious one, but thats it.

Gasquet leads 2-0

.....and where have we heard that before?

Oh dear, we should have known......he does have plenty of "previous".

As I pointed out elsewhere... Gasquet is now 5/12 in 5-setters..

2004 Wimbledon R128: Kenneth Carlsen def. Richard Gasquet (3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4)
2005 US Open R128: Richard Gasquet def. Alberto Martin (6-2, 6-3, 1-6, 6-7, 6-4)
2005 US Open R32: Richard Gasquet def. Ivan Ljubicic (3-6, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2)
2005 US Open R16: Robby Ginepri def. Richard Gasquet (6-3, 3-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-0)
2006 Davis Cup 1R: Richard Gasquet def. Tommy Haas (1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3)
2006 Davis Cup QF: Marat Safin def. Richard Gasquet (7-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-1)
2006 Davis Cup QF: Dmitry Tursunov def. Richard Gasquet (6-1, 3-6, 6-7, 6-3, 7-5)
2006 US Open R16: Lleyton Hewitt def. Richard Gasquet (6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3)
2007 Davis Cup QF: Mikhail Youzhny def. Richard Gasquet (6-2, 6-3, 6-7, 5-7, 8-6)
2007 Wimbledon QF: Richard Gasquet def. Andy Roddick (4-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 8-6)
2008 Wimbledon R16: Andy Murray def. Richard Gasquet (5-7, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4)
2008 US Open R128: Tommy Haas def. Richard Gasquet (6-7, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2)
2009 Australian Open R32: Fernando Gonzalez def. Richard Gasquet (3-6, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 12-10)
2010 Australian Open R128: Mikhail Youzhny def. Richard Gasquet (6-7, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4)
2010 French Open R128: Andy Murray def. Richard Gasquet (4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1)
2011 Davis Cup QF: Richard Gasquet def. Florian Mayer (4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3)
2013 Stanislas Wawrinka def. Richard Gasquet 6-7(5) 4-6 6-4 7-5 8-6

Gasquet plays the most beautiful tennis but sometimes he is unbearable to watch. I feel worn out from watching his match today and I only watched the final set...

Actually, this was one of Gasquet's 'better' 4th round losses - at least he didn't completely fold in 5th set. But, its another 4th round defeat, and unless he gets a nice soft draw he's going to keep running into the likes of Ferrer, Wawrinka, Berdych, etc, (or, worse still, top 4 players) at that stage and he really isn't clinical, confident or physically strong enough to win those encounters.

Twice against Andy Murray and once against Youzhny and Wawrinka he has gone 2 sets up to lose the match, this is quite worrying.

Indeed he is like an Almagro can set himself to a position of winning and then find a way to lose from there.

I just get irritated by the end of the match to see him lose matches countless times from winning positions. I am gonna avoid watching his matches from here on, I just can't take it anymore.

His superior talent is outweighed by the physicality of the modern game. Gasquet, Wawrinka and Tsonga are all more talented than Djokovic and Nadal. Of course, clay court tennis should have a greater emphasis on physicality but because of racket technology and the subsequent slowing of surfaces, the same is now true of all tennis.