An unlikely appearance at the 2002 Monte-Carlo Masters turned into a memorable ATP debut for Richard Gasquet.
Born in the southern French city of Beziers, Gasquet was introduced to tennis by his parents, both of whom were biology teachers.
Gasquet’s career took off after playing with father and coach Francis@josemorgado X He was tipped for huge success in the media from a young age@TheTennisLetter XMum Maryse and dad Francis were coaches at their local club in Serignan, where Richard became a student.
Their young prodigy first picked up a racquet at the age of three and it didn’t take long for his potential quality to shine through on court.
Having started playing with his father, Gasquet was discovered by the seven-time title winner and former ATP star Pierre Barthes.
The then retired Frenchman, who also won the US Open doubles with Nikola Pilic in 1970, ran the tennis camp in Cap d’Agde close by.
Gasquet continued his growth and at nine-years-old, he became the cover star of the February 1996 edition of Tennis Magazine.
‘The champion that France is waiting for?’ it read on the front, one that has also donned Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
French media hype continued when Gasquet was dubbed as the ‘little Mozart of tennis’ when was 15, the age in which his career took off.
After reaching the Australian Open boys’ singles semi-finals in 2002 he made his ATP Tour debut at the Monte-Carlo Masters.
Gasquet entered qualifying as a wildcard, beating Nikolay Davydenko and Adrian Voinea to reach the main draw of the tournament.
In doing so, he became the youngest ever qualifier in a Masters Series event at Monte-Carlo before making more history in the first round.
Squillari was Gasquet’s first ever ATP tour opponent at Monte-CarloGetty Gasquet pulled off a huge upset to make Masters historyGetty His appearance was the first of 11 at Monte Carlo so far@TennisTV XA 7-6 [7-5] 3-6 7-5 win against Franco Squillari, who was world no.54, made him the youngest ATP-level match winner in 14 years.
Gasquet won when aged just 15 years and ten months, after Tommy Ho and his 1988 Rye Brook Open win at 15 years and two months.
The teenager was beaten in the second round by Marat Safin but just a few months later, he impressed on his senior Grand Slam debut.
Shortly before he turned 16, Gasquet faced world no.20 Albert Costa in the French Open first round and won the first set before defeat.
An ATP record awaited him at the end of his breakout 2002 when he became the youngest ever player to finish in the year-end top 200.
Consistent Grand Slam appearances followed, including two semi-final outings at Wimbledon and one at the US Open.
twitter.com/TennisTV/status/852196764618825728 Gasquet then sealed a massive triumph against Federer in 2005AFP The Frenchman will bid farewell to Monte-Carlo and tennis in 2025GettyBut Gasquet also made regular visits to where it all began in Monte-Carlo and reached the quarter-finals in 2005 as a qualifier.
Standing between him and the last four was world no.1 Federer, who was unable to overcome the latest rising star in tennis.
Gasquet beat the Swiss legend 6-7 [1-7] 6-2 7-6 [10-8] and met Nadal in the semi-finals but couldn’t capitalise on his first set win.
Another three quarter-final outings came his way in 2007, 2013 and 2018 at the Monte Carlo Country Club, with 2025 his final year.
He announced in October that he will retire and make his final ever appearance at the French Open next month.
A final bow at the Monte-Carlo Masters comes before though and the 38-year-old will play in the first round against Matteo Arnaldi.
Fabio Fognini, Stan Wawrinka and Valentin Vacherot join him as a wildcard entry.
The action begins with qualifying on Saturday and the main draw will commence two days later until the final on April 13.
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