Tennis photographer Corinne Dubreuil vividly recalls working a junior tournament in Blois in July 1995 for France's Tennis Magazine. The reporter on site with her rushed over with news of an impressive nine-year-old.
“My colleague came to me and said ‘Corinne, Corinne, you have to come to Court 3 and see this little guy’,” Dubreuil said. “He’s so amazing. He has a one-handed backhand. Crazy, crazy.”
Dubreuil took some photos of the young player and like her colleague was impressed. They spoke of the player to their superiors at the publication, who contacted the boy's family and decided to produce a full report, which turned into a cover story.
The boy's name was Richard Gasquet.
Early in 1996, Dubreuil visited the Frenchman in Sérignan, located in the south of France, to photograph him at home and document him playing tennis and at the beach. She took a famous portrait of Gasquet sitting in his bedroom with posters of the ATP Tour’s biggest stars surrounding him.
Across two walls were legends including Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, as well as Frenchmen Guy Forget, Henri Leconte and Marc Rosset. Little did Gasquet know one day he would become an international star, too.
The February 1996 edition of Tennis Magazine featured a striking cover in which the phenom was winding up to unleash a one-handed backhand. The headline read: “Le champion que la France attend?” In English, that means: “The champion that France is waiting for?”
That was a massive amount of pressure for a nine-year-old. There was no guarantee Gasquet would pursue tennis for a career, let alone become a professional. But over the next three decades he became one of the best players in the history of French tennis.
Gasquet’s backhand turned into one of the most feared shots in the sport and no matter how the Frenchman performs this Roland Garros — after which he will retire — his game will be remembered for generations to come.
In 1999, Gasquet won the prestigious Les Petits As international junior tournament in France, and three years later he became the No. 1 junior in the world as a 16-year-old. But the first major splash the Frenchman made came earlier that year, when he won his ATP Tour debut at the 2002 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters as a 15-year-old.
Gasquet defeated former World No. 11 Franco Squillari 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-5 to become the youngest match winner in the history of the Tour (since 1990). Nobody has broken his record since.
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Even aged 15, the Frenchman’s talent was clear. As was the case for the next 23 years, Gasquet was already crafting jaw-dropping backhands according to Squillari.
“My crosscourt forehand was my best shot and I thought before [the match] I would do my best with his backhand and his backhand was unbelievable,” Squillari told ATPTour.com. “He [did not make] a mistake more than three hours from his backhand. Okay, I [then] played to his forehand and from his forehand he didn’t make a mistake, too. He’s a very complete player.”
The 16-time ATP Tour titlist became known for his artistic game, creating unthinkable angles with his one-handed backhand and playing aggressively with his forehand when he needed to. The Frenchman was as meticulous with his strategy as he was with his grip, which he redid at nearly every changeover, more than anyone else on the ATP Tour.
Gasquet first broke into the Top 100 of the PIF ATP Rankings on 29 September 2003, shortly after his 17th birthday. From 18 April 2005 through 14 January 2024, he spent nearly 19 consecutive years inside the Top 100.
The 38-year-old has earned 609 tour-level wins, more than any Frenchman on record according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. Two years ago, after earning his 600th win to join Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray as the fourth active player to reach the milestone (Nadal and Murray have since retired), Gasquet joked, "Of course I'm the worst by far!"
Most Wins By A Frenchman
| Player | Wins | Winning % |
| 1) Richard Gasquet | 609 | 59.9% |
| 2) Gael Monfils | 581 | 62.9% |
| 3) Gilles Simon | 504 | 56.1% |
| 4) Yannick Noah | 482 | 69.6% |
| 5) Fabrice Santoro | 470 | 51.4% |
A three-time major semi-finalist and a three-time ATP Masters 1000 finalist, the only thing that prevented Gasquet from claiming titles at the biggest events was competing against the likes of Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer. All six of his losses in those critical matches came against one of those three players. The Frenchman defeated Djokovic and Federer in his career, but lost all 18 of his Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings with Nadal.
“He was very close in the beginning of his career with Nadal,” Squillari said. “But unfortunately, Nadal was one of the best of four or five players on Tour in history. That was not good news for Richard.”
When Squillari lost to a 15-year-old Gasquet, it was difficult to take as a former World No. 11. But time has shown that the teen turned into a star, who climbed to a career-high World No. 7.
“He [won] more than 600 matches. I lost against one of the [biggest] players on Tour,” Squillari said. “If you lost in the French Open against [Michael] Chang [when he was] only 16 years, 20 years after you say ‘Okay, it was not too bad’. And I say now, it was not too bad.”
Gasquet recently appeared on the ‘Nothing Major’ podcast, named because the four American former professional players who host it never won a major. They joked that Gasquet fit in with them, unless he wins Roland Garros over the coming fortnight.
“Zero chance,” Gasquet said, cracking a laugh. “But if there is a non-major [list] as you do, I think I would be seeded, I would be Top 10.”
Gasquet's most recent ATP Tour title came two years ago in Auckland. Photo: Phil Walter/Getty Images.
The son of a father who ran a local tennis club made history in his first tour-level event and will also do so in his last tournament. By competing in Roland Garros this year, he sets the new Open-Era record for main-draw appearances in the tournament.
“It's the end, maybe the last match of your career. Hard to say,” Gasquet said of his expecations of the moment. “It's special, but I'm happy to do this, I'm happy to play here one last time. I'm practically 39 years old. I never thought I was going to be playing such a long time.
“I'm lucky enough to be able to do it here one last time. I know what that represents, to play in a tournament like this. So I'm going to try to enjoy it from beginning to end and give my all. It's sport. You never know what's going to happen.”
France hoped a nine-year-old Gasquet would turn into a champion, and that he did.
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