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| Richard Gasquet has been carrying the hopes of French tennis on his shoulders for a while now. The young prodigy has matured nicely, to the point that he is seeded 11 here in Paris, but in five participations, he has never reached the third round at Roland Garros. He has never reached the quarter-final of a Grand Slam either. All of that means he could – and should - break a lot of new ground this year, providing he can handle the pressure. | | | | Ranked 74 in the world, Kristof Vliegen won only his second ever match at the French Open against Thailand’s Udomchoke. Yet with the support of the vociferous Belgian support, this Flemish speaker may well shake off his natural nonchalance and rise to the challenge of taking on the French No.1 on home soil. | |
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| Gasquet has enjoyed a decent season on clay so far, with a final in Estoril and other good displays behind him. His preparations were hampered by the blisters he picked up just before the French Open began but he did not appear unduly troubled by them in his crushing win over Nicolas Mahut. | | | | After a disastrous start to his season, when he lost six times in a row in the first round, Vliegen got back on track in Monte Carlo by defeating Marat Safin in an epic before reaching the third round. Nonetheless he is not firing on all cylinders. He lost three in three at the World Team Cup in Düsseldorf last week and a win over Udomchoke, who is uncomfortable on clay, hardly constitutes an exploit. | |
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| Gasquet is the complete player. Blessed with an exquisite backhand, he has excellent net coverage, good movement and exceptional vision. His service is perhaps the only area where he still needs to improve to be compared with the top practitioners of the exercise. | | | | Vliegen loves the drop shot, but it is his all-round court strokes that set him apart. He hits the ball early and cleanly, making him difficult to read. Indeed, his unpredictability may be his greatest asset against Gasquet. | |
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| With the support of his legion of fans, his staggering array of shots, and a blister-free right hand, Gasquet should win comfortably. As ever, he must not give his opponent reason to hope however. A sharp start, and natural ability should do the rest. | | | | His backhand winner down the line can damage the very best, so Vliegen will do well to pull it off as much as possible early on, before mixing up his shots to destabilise his illustrious adversary. Should he see a chance of an upset, the Belgian will most certainly take it. | |
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| The pair have only met once on the main tour, in Hamburg last year and Vliegen won, 6-4, 6-2. | | | | Gasquet did beat the man from Belgium in Bratislava in a hardcourt Challenger tournament in 2003 and more recently in a club match in France, on clay indoors. | |
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