Gasquet, Simon get Paris Masters main draw WCs while Gaston, Thiem get qualifying WCs
37-year-old Gilles Simon will be retiring at the Paris Masters
Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon at the Davis Cup in 2017
Image Credit: JB Autissier / Panoramic
Former top 10 players Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon were among four Frenchmen to be awarded wild cards into the main draw of next week’s Rolex-Paris Masters, the final ATP Masters 1000 Series event of the season.
Gasquet, currently ranked No 74 in the world, will be competing in Bercy for the 15th time in his career and reached the semi-finals of the recent European Open in Antwerp. The 36-year-old has a 15-13 record in the event, reaching the semi-finals in 2007 and the quarter-finals in 2013 and 2015.
Simon, who will be playing the final tournament of his career next week, is currently ranked No 195 in the world. The 37-year-old has a 13-15 record at the tournament and reached the semi-finals in 2012.
Also receiving main draw wild cards were 42nd-ranked Adrian Mannarino, who won the Winston-Salen Open earlier this year and is currently the second-highest ranked French player on the ATP Tour (one spot behind Gael Monfils who received a direct entry); and 51st-ranked Arthur Rinderknech, who reached the semi-finals in Gijon recently.
After last year’s epic run, Hugo Gaston gets only qualifying WC for Paris Masters
One of the surprises came with Hugo Gaston, who lit the tournament last year by qualifying and beating 17th ranked Pablo Carreno Busta and current world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz en route to the quarter-finals where he lost to eventual runner-up Daniil Medvedev, receiving only a qualifying wild card. HIs countrymen Quentin Halys and Ugo Humbert also received qualifying wild cards as did former world No 3 Dominic Thiem, who continues his comeback from a long lay-off earlier in the season.
Nine of the world’s top 10, barring the injured Alexander Zverev, are entered in the Paris Masters, which will also play a key role in determining the final berths for the season-ending ATP Finals.
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