Richard Gasquet's well-known superstition involves requesting the same tennis ball with which he has just won a point. The Frenchman will not lose sight of that prized ball, often flagging down ballkids and kindly asking for its return. Gasquet’s countryman Gabriel Debru, half the age of the 38-year-old former World No. 7, has a similar superstition.
“When I win a point, I’m going to take the towel. If I lose it, I’m not going to take the towel,” Debru told ATPTour.com. “If I lose another point, I’m going to take the towel. If I win, I continue [taking the towel]. If I lose, I stop. I sweat a lot on court when it’s humid, so I have to use the towel for my hands.”
The #NextGenATP star revealed another funny superstition he used at Roland Garros in 2022, when he won the boys’ singles title. Debru used the same shower after all six matches.
Set aside the superstitions and there are more similarities between the teenager Debru and his elder countryman Gasquet. Debru won two ATP Challenger Tour titles in 2024, becoming the third-youngest Frenchman to win multiple Challenger trophies (since 1978). Icons Gasquet and Gael Monfils also accomplished the feat. Gasquet is the youngest player in Challenger history to win multiple titles (16 years, eight months).
“This is for sure the start,” Debru said of his early Challenger success. “I think it's really good for sure. It’s important to have some results like this to really help you continue to grow, have confidence about yourself and your game.”
After not passing the second round of his first seven Challenger events in 2024, Debru’s breakthrough came at the perfect place in July, on home soil in Troyes. With his brother Mathis Debru — who plays college tennis at the University of Illinois — in attendance, the teenager lifted his maiden Challenger crown. The only Frenchmen to win a Challenger title at a younger age than Debru are Gasquet, Monfils, Fabrice Santoro and Corentin Moutet.
Gabriel Debru is crowned champion at the Troyes Challenger. Credit: Internationaux de Tennis de Troyes
Debru credits his team for playing a key role in his surge. Last February, the Grenoble native began training at the Piatti Tennis Center, which is spearheaded by famed coach Riccardo Piatti. The Italian has worked with Gasquet, Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Ivan Ljubicic, Milos Raonic, among others.
“He has shown that he is one of the best coaches in the world and to work with him every day is special,” said Debru, No. 254 in the PIF ATP Rankings. “You hear from and get advice from one of the best coaches. It’s really something special to work with Riccardo.
“Everything that he says has a sense. You have to be patient with yourself that the work you do now is not only for next week or two weeks. It’s for two or three years. That’s what he taught me, that the work we do today is not only for one tournament or for one season, it’s for the whole career.”
After working hard during his six-week offseason, which featured three weeks of two-a-day fitness sessions, Debru will be one to watch in 2025 as he attempts to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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