Gasquet: “At UTS, I played my best tennis of the last seven or eight years”

The Tricolore returns for a final UTS, in Guadalajara, after its first steps in the competition, in 2020.

Richard Gasquet, UTS Guadalajara 2025

February 14, 2025

For those who don’t remember, Richard Gasquet is a former UTS regular. In 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the former world No 7 was one of the headliners of the inaugural competition launched by Patrick Mouratoglou within his academy, in the South of France.

“The Virtuoso”, his nickname at UTS, impressed with his level of play and reached the semi-finals in the first two editions. A little later, he went a step further and was beaten in the final of UTS Antwerp by Alex de Minaur – a loss in the final, but a third stellar performance from the talented Frenchman in a competition that suits his game very well.

Before he retires at Roland-Garros this May, Gasquet will try his hand at UTS one last time, making his fourth appearance in Guadalajara this weekend. He replaced Denis Shapovalov at short notice, who withdrew due to a back injury, and he’s extremely happy about it: “When Jérémy (Chardy) called me, I jumped on the first plane to come,” he told Tennis Majors.

Delighted to be in this unique competition one final time, 38-year-old Gasquet hopes to summon the level he displayed five years ago when he discovered UTS:

“It was an incredible memory. I played really well and won matches against very good players. It was really a great experience with the cards in particular. I was very aggressive, in great shape. At UTS, I played my best tennis of the last seven or eight years. I still hope that will be the case in Mexico,” the Béziers native told the media on Thursday in Guadalajara.

Good place for Gasquet to shine

In Guadalajara, Gasquet will face Casper “The Ice Man” Ruud, Fabio “Fogna” Fognini and Adrian “Manna” Mannarino in Group A.

Pleasure and the search for emotions drive the end of the career of the triple Grand Slam semi-finalist (Wimbledon 2007, 2015, US Open 2013). In Montpellier and Marseille, despite early eliminations, he enjoyed himself with the French public.

“Montpellier, there were a lot of people, I had a great ceremony so it was a lot of fun. The pressure will increase until Roland-Garros, it will be special to end my career there,” Gasquet says.

At UTS here is another chance for Gasquet to shine, with a little less pressure that will be waiting in Paris.