Roger Federer is in desperate need of a win on Thursday in London after his losing his opener to Novak Djokovic. Richard Gasquet is also hoping to find the win column.
Roger Federer and Richard Gasquet will be facing each other for the 13th time in their careers when they do battle in Group B round-robin action at the World Tour Finals on Thursday afternoon.
Federer is dominating the head-to-head series 10-2, including 5-0 on hard courts. He has won 10 of their last 11 meetings since Gasquet took the first one on the clay courts of Monte-Carlo in 2005. They last squared off at the 2012 Madrid Masters, where Federer scored a 6-3, 6-2 victory on blue clay.
The 32-year-old Swiss kicked off his week in London by losing to Novak Djokovic in three sets for the second time in four days. Djokovic prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday in the Paris semifinals and 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-2 on Tuesday. Still, Federer is clearly playing better now than he was this summer. Prior to his semifinal showing at last week’s Masters event, the world No. 7 finished runner-up to Juan Martin Del Potro in Basel.
Gasquet, a Paris quarterfinalist, opened on Monday with a 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-5 loss to Del Potro. Thus the Frenchman’s first appearance in the year-end championship since 2007 started in inauspicious fashion, although one set to his credit certainly keeps his hopes–however faint–of qualifying for the semifinals alive. Gasquet is 50-21 for the season, which includes two indoor hard-court titles and three overall.
The key shot for Federer on Thursday will be his backhand down the line to his opponent’s forehand, which is Gasquet’s weaker stroke. Expect this one to feature brilliant shot-making interspersed with too-frequent errors, but Federer’s improved level and his superior experience at this event should help him achieve a hard-fought win.
Pick: Federer in 3
[polldaddy poll=7538617]
Leave a Reply