UNITED KINGDOM: FIFTEEN YEAR OLD TENNIS PLAYER RICHARD GASQUET HOPES TO QUALIFY FOR WIMBLEDON
Record ID:
337975
UNITED KINGDOM: FIFTEEN YEAR OLD TENNIS PLAYER RICHARD GASQUET HOPES TO QUALIFY FOR WIMBLEDON
- Title: UNITED KINGDOM: FIFTEEN YEAR OLD TENNIS PLAYER RICHARD GASQUET HOPES TO QUALIFY FOR WIMBLEDON
- Date: 10th June 2002
- Summary: QUEENS CLUB, LONDON, UK (JUNE 10&11, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. THE ENTRANCE TO THE STELLA ARTOIS CHAMPIONSHIP, AT THE QUEEN'S CLUB 2. FLAGS 3. QUEEN'S CLUB MONUMENT 4. WIDE OF RICHARD GASQUET PRACTICING ON COURT 5. (SOUNDBITE) (French) RICHARD GASQUET SAYING: "I started to play when I was 4 because my parents are tennis coaches so naturally I was attracted to the sport and very early on I enjoyed it. So I continued working at it". 6. GASQUET CLOSE-UP ON COURT 7. (SOUNDBITE) (French) RICHARD GASQUET SAYING: (Qu. Asked if it would make him happy to play at Wimbledon) "Yes for sure because it's an extremely prestigous tournament so I'd be glad to play there." 8. FROM THE NET, GASQUET PRACTICING 9. (SOUNDBITE) (French) RICHARD GASQUET SAYING: (Qu. Asked about comparisons between him and Becker) "For the moment perhaps because maybe when he was young he had the same results as I have. But I hope to follow in his footsteps later on so I guess we'll see if there's a parallel or not." 10. MID-RANGE SHOT OF GASQUET PRACTICING 11. (SOUNDBITE) (French) RICHARD GASQUET SAYING: "I've been playing a lot of tennis for about 2 years now. Before that I played a lot of football, rugby and all that. I don't think that tennis is all there is. I've been playing tennis professionally for 2 years now but if I'm not playing I visit friends and get involved with other activities - I've got a lot of time to do other things." 12. GASQUET WALKING TOWARDS THE NET 13. (SOUNDBITE) (French) RICHARD GASQUET SAYING: "I don't really feel the pressure because I'm surrounded by good people and I play for my own pleasure without thinking of the ouside world." 14. CROWD WATCHING 15. FLAGS Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 25th June 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LONDON, UK
- City:
- Country: United Kingdom
- Reuters ID: LVA4K8WH82J39F7FIYQN2ZLN3D94
- Story Text: Fifteen-year-old Richard Gasquet, who had a wild card
entry for the Stella Artois tennis tournament, is hoping to
qualifying for Wimbledon this summer and is already being
compared to German tennis ace Boris Becker.
For Gasquet this week's Stella Artois event at London's
Queen's Club was his first tournament on grass, and his
conqueror came in the modest guise of South African journeyman
Neville Godwin.
The lesson -- a 7-6 5-7 6-3 defeat -- was still one well
worth learning, though.
A little unsteady on his feet at first on Tuesday (June
11), the teenager grew into the role of grasscourt player
slowly but surely.
Nothing like the diving and leaping teenage Boris Becker,
who won Wimbledon aged 17, Gasquet -- who turns 16 two days
after Sunday's final here -- was sure-footed and composed.
His ability was apparent and, with a little patience and
experience, Gasquet appears to have the wherewithal to master
grass and become a major tennis force.
The French teenager had lived up to expectations on Sunday
(June 9) when he won the French Open junior title.
"I started to play when I was 4 because my parents are
tennis coaches so naturally I was attracted to the sport and
very early on I enjoyed it. So I continued working at it, "
Gasquet said.
He became the youngest player to win a match in a Masters
Series tournament with victory over Franco Squillari in Monte
Carlo in April, crushed compatriot Laurent Recouderc 6-0 6-1.
He hopes he will still be able to qualify for Wimbledon
which begins on the 24 June.
"Yes for sure because it's an extremely prestigous
tournament so I'd be glad to play there," he told Reuters.
Already the youngester has been compared to Boris Becker
who won the Stella Artois Championships and went on to win
Wimbledon as a 17-year-old in 1985.
"For the moment perhaps because maybe when he was young he
had the same results as I have. But I hope to follow in his
footsteps later on so I guess we'll see if there's a parallel
or not," he said.
Gasquet won his first professional match at an even
younger age than Becker who was 16 years and four months while
Pete Sampras was two months older.
At 12-year-old Gasquet emulated future Grand-Slam
champions Michael Chang and Richard Krajicek by winning the
Petit As championship, the unofficial world junior title, in
Tarbes, near Toulouse, France. But he still enjoys plenty of
other things that other 15-year-old boys are interested in has
not allowed tennis to dominate his life.
"I've been playing a lot of tennis for about 2 years now.
Before that I played a lot of football, rugby and all that. I
don't think that tennis is all there is. I've been playing
tennis professionally for 2 years now but if I'm not playing I
visit friends and get involved with other activities - I've
got a lot of time to do other things," he said.
Gasquet was brought up in the small Mediterranean town of
Serignan, the only child of Francis and Maryse. The family
lived on site at the local tennis club where Francis was the
paid coach.
"I don't really feel the pressure because I'm surrounded
by good people and I play for my own pleasure without thinking
of the ouside world," asquet added.
Last year his family sold their house in Serignan and
found somewhere in Paris so that Richard could be close to the
headquarters of French tennis at Roland Garros, which is his
new base. At the same time, Gasquet senior handed over his
son's coaching and he is now one of a small group looked after
by Eric Winogradsky, who as a tour player was runner-up with
Mansour Bahrami in the 1989 French Open doubles.
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