Richard Gasquet beat world number 2 Daniil Medvedev, back from injury 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) in the round of 16 of the ATP tournament in Geneva on Tuesday, five days before Roland-Garros.
The Russian, operated on for a hernia in April, had not played since the end of March during his quarter-final in Miami and was playing his first match of the season on clay, his worst surface.
ALLEZ GASQUET 🙌
🇫🇷 @richardgasquet1 takes out top seed Medvedev 6-2 7-6(5) for his first Top 2 win since April 2005!#gonetgenevaopen pic.twitter.com/cfkB8nXRLy
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 17, 2022
Gasquet, world N.75, had not beaten one of the two best players in the world since his victory against Roger Federer in 2005 out of 38 oppositions.
This victory should give confidence to the French tennis player less than a week from the internationals of France.
"It has never been easy for me to play well from the start on clay," warned the 26-year-old champion on Sunday evening, before the tournament, lacking in rhythm.
Second Frenchman to beat Medvedev this season
The 35-year-old Frenchman also signs his second victory over the Russian in four games after Montpellier in 2018 in the 32nd finals.
For the Russian's entry into the tournament, Gasquet took the lead in the middle of the first set by winning four games in a row to conclude the round (6-2).
Daniil Medvedev was then suffocated by the pace of the Biterrois at the start of the second set but managed to make another late break.
The two men fought until the tie-break won by Gasquet.
He is the second Frenchman to beat Daniil Medvedev this season, after Gaël Monfils, absent from Roland-Garros this year, who had offered himself a prestigious victory against the Russian, then world No.1, in Indian Wells mid-March.
Richard Gasquet will face in the quarter-finals the Italian from the qualifications Marco Cecchinato or the Pole Kamil Majchrzak.
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