De Minaur dumped out in Dubai; Gasquet wins 550th match

Alex de Minaur‘s tough run of form continued as he let slip a one-set lead to lose to Jeremy Chardy at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Monday.

De Minaur, the ninth seed in Dubai, won his first tournament of 2021 in Antalya in January but the Australian’s results since then have faltered and his latest loss – 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Chardy – means he is 3-5 since his title in Turkey.

Missed chances

De Minaur seized his first two break points against Chardy, yet the next four came and went while his opponent proved clinical, taking his only two opportunities and snatching victory.

The Frenchman, who reached the semi-finals in Antalya and again at an ATP 250 event in Melbourne prior to the Australian Open, said: “I’ve played good since the beginning of the year. It is always easier to play when you are confident. If you play a bad set, it is never finished. I stayed focused and tried to find a solution.”

It was a disappointing start to the week for De Minaur’s compatriots, too, as John Millman was among three other Aussies to crash out.

Christopher O’Connell missed the chance to set up a meeting with Dominic Thiem as Lloyd Harris advanced, and qualifier Emil Ruusuvuori saw off Jordan Thompson to set up a meeting with Russia’s Andrey Rublev.

Gasquet landmark

Marton Fucsovics was back in action after handing a walkover to Rublev, the same man who had previously beaten him to the Rotterdam Open title, in Qatar last week. The Hungarian defeated Vasek Pospisil in three sets, while there was a milestone win for Richard Gasquet, another man unable to line up against Rublev in Doha.

Gasquet’s 6-4, 6-2 win over Italy’s Marco Cecchinato was his 550th on the ATP Tour, making him only the sixth active player to reach that mark after the ‘big four’ of Roger Federer (1,243), Rafael Nadal (1,008), Novak Djokovic (943) and Andy Murray (677) and Spain’s Fernando Verdasco (552).

Timeless @richardgasquet1 beats Cecchinato 6-4 6-2 to record his 550th Tour-level win – almost 19 years after his first in April 2002! pic.twitter.com/GuXDa0Ab3F

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 15, 2021

“I am feeling great here,” Gasquet said. “I know this court well. I played well last year. It is a fast court. I like to play on it. It is important to serve well and it was a great match. I started well, feeling confident and winning the first set, and then I played better in the second set.”