ATP Tour

Gasquet earns win on Monte-Carlo farewell, 23 years after debut

There’s still plenty of life left in Richard Gasquet.

The 38-year-old wild card secured victory in his final Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters appearance on Sunday, defeating Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the second round.

”I know how lucky I am to play on this court,” Gasquet said in his on-court interview. “Maybe it was my last time. In the third set, that’s what I told [myself] in my head: ‘Fight, fight, it may be the last set here, so you have to play well. You have to be good on the court, you have to fight’. And I did it.

“I did some great shots and of course I’m really happy to win here. I want to thank the organisation for the wild card first and of course to win, it’s crazy for me.”

Rollin' back the years ✊@richardgasquet1 | @ROLEXMCMASTERS | #RolexMonteCarloMasters pic.twitter.com/RXbQwGQr41

— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 6, 2025

Set to retire after Roland Garros, Gasquet is competing in The Principality for the 12th and final time. In front of a passionate French crowd, he dazzled on Court Rainier III with his stunning shot-making, clinching victory after two hours and 35 minutes.

Gasquet made his Monte-Carlo debut in 2002 as a 15-year-old wild card and became the youngest match winner since the start of the ATP Tour in 1990. The Frenchman reached the semi-finals in 2005.

The former World No. 7 will look to extend his run against Felix Auger-Aliassime or qualifier Daniel Altmaier in the second round. He owns a 19-11 record at the Masters 1000 event, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.

Earlier, wild card Valentin Vacherot became the first Monegasque player to record a main draw match win at the event since Jean-Rene Lisnard in 2009.

The 26-year-old defeated Jan-Lennard Struff 6-2, 6-1 in their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting to reach the second round after 58 minutes. After sealing his first ATP Tour win, the No. 259 in the PIF ATP Rankings closed his eyes and raised his arms to the sky. Vacherot will next take on Grigor Dimitrov or Nicolas Jarry.