Richard Gasquet added the sixteenth title of his professional career by defeating Cameron Norrie against all odds in the Auckland tournament finalworld number 12, by 4-6, 6-4 and 6-4.
Gasquet’s experience in finals, 34 in his record, outweighs Norrie’s aggressiveness and his youth. At 36, the Frenchman became the oldest player to win in Auckland in the tournament’s 66-year history. Amazingly, he did the same by coming back from 1-4 down in the final set.
“This is an incredible title for me, especially for my age“, commented Gasquet with a smile. “The truth is that I didn’t think I would win. If someone had told me last week when I arrived that today I would go on the track here and I would win, I wouldn’t have believed them. I’m turning 37 this year. And the last time I won a tournament was in 2018.”
Victory in Auckland means Richard Gasquet climbs 25 places in the ATP rankings and puts himself at 42 on the eve of the Australian Open, which begins Monday in Melbourne. In the first round he will face his compatriot Ugo Humbert, 108 in the world. If they win, the next opponent will be, barring a surprise, the unpredictable Nick Kyrgios if he takes out Russian Roman Safiullin.
“In Melbourne I have nothing to lose“, ventured Gasquet, who despite the fact that the final lasted almost two and a half hours did not show the slightest sign of fatigue in the last set, where he showed the best version of his main virtues : the serve and the one-handed backhand, an underutilized coup modality that some players barely use.
Source: La Verdad
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