ROLAND GARROS
MEN'S SINGLES DAY 7 R3
Tommy Haas (GER) v Richard Gasquet (FRA) (17)
Two crowd favourites, the veteran Tommy Haas and flamboyant Frenchman Richard Gasquet, meet in the pick of men’s third round ties on Saturday. Haas, now ranked 112, has five matches under his belt already at Roland Garros this year, having come through qualifying to make it into the main draw.
The former world no.2 began 2012 ranked 205, and is guaranteed to rise further as a result of his performances here. This is his eleventh visit to the French Open in a career that has been marked by injury; hence his yo-yo ranking over the years. But Haas has fond memories of Roland Garros, and says he played his best match ever here in the 2009 fourth round when he gave Roger Federer a run for his money.
“I believe Tommy has the type of game that he can beat the best of the lot on any given day,” declares Nick Bollettieri, who first coached Haas when the player was 11. “He plays offensive, he comes in, has a great slice, a big forehand, he volleys a lot. Cardio – he’s as fit as anything. But Lord knows if that shoulder will hold up.”
“That shoulder” is Haas’s service arm, which has been operated on three times over the years. The German-born naturalised American, now 34, says he has no ranking goals at all these days; his sole aim is to play as well as he can, without pain.
“I just want to enjoy that moment of going out on the court in front of a crowd, and have that feeling of a little pressure and wanting to win,” says the four-time Slam finalist. “That’s the beauty of the sport – you just never know. There’s always room for upsets.”
And upset it will be if he beats the French no.17 seed on Saturday. Ten years ago, when Haas was the world number two, Gasquet was winning the boys’ title here and was named ITF Junior Boys’ World Champion. That same year he also made his debut at Roland Garros at senior level, going out in the first round.
A decade later he has never gone further than the last 16 – and it was not until last year that he got that far, falling to Novak Djokovic. And lest we forget, the last domestic player to capture the title here was Yannick Noah in 1983…three years before Gasquet was born.
Gasquet’s season to date has been solid rather than spectacular, and it may be he is looking ahead to the fourth round where he may fancy his chances against Andy Murray for an unprecedented place in the quarter-finals.
But one step at a time. He has played Haas on the Tour just twice, and lost both times. The advantage of having the crowd behind him may be cancelled out by the burden that all players carry in their home Slam. Besides, the neutrals may cheer Haas on the basis of his age and qualifying heroics. On paper, it should be Gasquet to go through, but as Haas says and many can testify from experience, you never know.
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