GASQUET FACS MONTANES

Richard Gasquet will face Albert Montanes of Spain in the second round of the Vegeta Croatia Open. This will be Gasquet’s first match in the competition as he had received a bye in the opening round.

This has been a mixed season for Gasquet so far. He had made a tremendous start to the season by winning the Exxonmobil Open which was played at Doha. Immediately after that, he won Open Sud de France as well.

But, after that, Gasquet’s form deteriorated. In the next few tournaments, he got defeated at early stages.

Then, in the Sony Open, he had a decent outing.  He reached the semi final round in that tournament, but, after that, he again lost his form. Inconsistency has been the main problem for him this season.

Gasquet has played 43 matches so far this year out of which he has won 32 and has lost 11. He is currently at no. 9 in the world rankings. He would like to put up consistent performances from now on and end the season in top 8 so that he can make it to the ATP World Tour Finals.

As far as Montanes is concerned, he is an experienced player and has a good record on clay courts.

However, he hasn’t been in great form this season. He has played 26 matches thus far this season and has managed to win only 13 of them. His world ranking at the moment is 49.

These two players have played against each other on 5 occasions in the past. All those 5 games have been won by Gasquet.

On the basis of ranking and current form, Gasquet is clearly the favourite in this match, but, Montanes with his huge experience is fully capable of pulling off an upset.