04/17/02
Gasquet's Excellent Adventure Ends
http://www.masters-series.com/montecarlo/news/day3_2.asp

Richard Gasquet's incredible run at the Tennis Masters Monte
Carlo finally came to an end when he ran into an unrepentant
Marat Safin in the second round. Gasquet, the 15-year-old
qualifier who set the tournament alight on Monday with his
three-set victory over Franco Squillari, found Safin's power
game a step too far at this stage of his promising young
career.

Despite the loss, the Frenchman was delighted with the
experience he had gained this week. "It's already very good
to be in the second round of such a tournament, so the only
thing you can feel is happiness," said Gasquet. "He played
well - he's among the best players in the world, so it's not
easy to play against such a player."

Showing signs of nerves at the beginning of the match, Gasquet
found himself a break down early in the match. Although he
had break points as the Russian served for the opening set at
5-4, Gasquet failed to convert when it mattered most and the
match never came within his grasp.

Feeling the affects of his three wins against Nikolay Davydenko,
Adrian Voinea (in qualifying) and Squillari, Gasquet said: "I
was quite tired, so it was not easy to push with my legs. I
was not serving well, that's for sure."

For Gasquet, it's back to life as he knew it as he continues
what promises to be a fast-track to the top. "I'll have to go
back to the smaller tournaments as I can't play tournaments like
this all the time," he said. "First I will have to win the little
tournaments, then we will see."

Gasquet has been the talk of the tournament this week, with
players all taking note of his results. When asked what he was
like at 15, Andy Roddick said: "I was trying to learn how to tie
my shoes at 15."

On what hadn't been a particularly good day for the local fans
following the exits of Gasquet, Nicholas Coutelot and Mickael
Llodra, No. 7 seed Sebastien Grosjean progressed to the third
round with a straight-sets victory against 2000 finalist Dominik
Hrbaty. Despite double faulting on his first match point in the
second set tie-break, Grosjean saved a set point of his own before
winning 6-3, 7-6(7).

Also through was Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson, who
followed up his first round win over Magnus Norman - his first
ever victory in Monte Carlo - with an equally impressive victory
over Stefan Koubek. "It feels nice to win again - now I have won
two matches in five years!"