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Former world No. 7 Richard Gasquet wasn't happy at all with his performance against Tomas Machac at the Davis Cup Finals. On Thursday, Gasquet and Machac in the opening rubber of the France and Czech Republic tie. Gasquet entered the match as the favorite as the experience and everything was on his side.
Gasquet, now ranked at No. 86 in the world, suffered a surprise loss as Machac won 7-6 (3) 6-2. “It’s quite rare that I lose so much confidence in a game, it has rarely happened to me,” Gssquet said. “I was bad on the match.
I did not manage to find the energy. It was especially the loss of the first set that really hurt me more than it should have."
Gasquet lost a tight first set
Gasquet blew three consecutive break points in the opening game of the match but earned the first break of the match two games later to take a 2-1 lead.
However, Gasquet's lead was short-lived as Machac broke back in the fourth game. As not a single break point was seen in the rest of the first set, the set had to be resolved in a tie-break. Machac started the tie-break with an early 3-0 lead and never looked back as he converted his second set point to win a tight opener.
After losing the first set, Gasquet's game fell apart. Gasquet managed to save three break points in the opening game of the first set but then suffered back-to-back breaks and lost five games in a row as Machac took a 5-1 lead.
Gasquet served out the seventh game to end Machac's five-game run but the Czech served out for the match in the following game. Luckily for Gasquet, Adrian Mannarino beat Jiri Vesely in the second rubber to force a deciding rubber.
In the deciidng rubber, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut beat Jiri Lehecka and Machac to complete a comeback win for France. Gasquet will certainly be hoping to quickly forget the Machac loss and bounce back in his next match.