TORONTO – The first finalist in Toronto’s Rogers Cup has been determined and Richard Gasquet has the honor.
The Frenchman has had an impressive tournament with victories over Tomas Berdych, James Blake before his win over Andy Murray on Saturday in straight sets (6-2, 7-5). The game was marked by the number of unforced errors that were primarily made by the winner’s opponent, Andy Murray.
Although Murray managed to win the first point of the game, it did not go as smoothly for the Brit in the rest of the match. In the first game, a double-fault by Gasquet gave Murray a break opportunity, but he was not able to capitalize. A double-fault on his serve in the fourth game of the first set allowed his opponent to break him and take a 3-1 lead.
It was one of 24 unforced errors that the 19 year-old made, and at a post-game press conference he surprisingly said that it was still a high-quality match.
“I didn’t feel there was too many unforced errors today,” he said. “Depends who’s doing the stats. If I hit a big forehand and I miss it by a millimeter, I don’t see that as an unforced error, whereas on the computer it might go down as an unforced error.”
This was despite Murray losing many critical points on miscues. He continually hit the ball out of bounds, especially in the sixth game of the first set. After fighting off two break points to take the game to a deuce, Murray hit the ball out of bounds twice to give Gasquet the break and go up 5-1.
The young player still was unwilling to take the fall.
“I’m sure the people that are doing the stats haven’t played at the highest level either. Everyone, all of the players, don’t tend to look at the unforced error one,” he said.
Other examples of Murray’s major mistakes included hitting the ball to give Gasquet a triple break and triple set point in the eighth game of the first set and eventually hitting the ball into the net to give his opponent the set.
“I felt like it was a pretty high-quality match, bar a few games in the middle of the first set by me. He kept his level consistent throughout. But I didn’t think it was like there was a lot of unforced errors today.”
Gasquet made 18 unforced errors, giving the match a total mistake ratio of 42.
As for the victory, Richard Gasquet just seemed pleased with his effort. The Frenchman will be appearing in his second career ATP Masters Series Final, and reached the final in Hamburg. He would be the first Frenchman to win a title in Canada.
“I served well. I didn’t lose my serve. It was the key of the match. I did all my break points, so it was a fantastic match for me today,” he said. “I had a lot of pressure in the second set because I could go in the final. But to win 7-5 in the second, it was great for me.”
Gasquet express contentment at not losing serve at any point in the match and breaking Murray four times in total.
“I was really happy to win this match because I didn’t want to play a tiebreak,” he said. “You never know what can happen in a tiebreak.”
It is widely expected that Gasquet will go on to play Roger Federer, a man that he has beaten once before, but has lost to four times previously (including a first-round loss at Wimbledon, earlier this year). Federer has to beat Fernando Gonzalez from Chile to move to the final tonight.
Gasquet said that Federer is worth the hype.
“He has a great serve and great forehand,” he said. “It’s the best in the world. He never miss. He runs a lot. He’s powerful. He’s always aggressive. He goes every time to the net. His serve and his forehand, it’s incredible.”
The Rogers Cup finale takes place on Sunday afternoon in Toronto.