By Julien Pretot
PARIS (Reuters) – Richard Gasquet’s own expectations of shining at Roland Garros are so low that he has already lined up a job as a pundit for French TV at this year’s claycourt major, where the local hopefuls are geared up for another dire collective performance.
With French number one Gael Monfils having pulled out injured last week, there will be no seeded players from the home nation in both the men’s and the women’s draw in Paris – a first since 1980.
The number of seeds was increased from 16 to 32 back in 2001.
“It is true that French tennis is not doing well,” said Pierre-Hughes Herbert, who was knocked out in the first round of the qualifications this week.
“There’s got to be a reaction.”
Last year only three Frenchmen survived their opening matches before being eliminated in the second round — their worst collective performance since tennis turned professional in 1968.
France had long hoped that someone from their troupe of New Musketeers — Gasquet, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gilles Simon and Monfils — would end the country’s near four-decade wait for a home-grown men’s champion.
But with the ageing quartet now well past their prime, and in some cases heading for retirement, France’s search for a champion who can revive the glory days of Yannick Noah’s 1983 triumph goes on.
Simon and Tsonga are now both ranked outside the world’s top 150 and will be retiring this year, while Gasquet has dropped down to 75th.
Earlier this week, the 35-year-old beat Daniil Medvedev in straight sets at the Geneva Open. However, with the Russian making a comeback after spending several weeks on the sidelines following an operation, Gasquet did not want to read too much into that result since he has lately even struggled to win matches on the lower-tier Challenger circuit.
Hence his decision to sign up to work as a commentator following his French Open exit, which on current form he expects that to be sooner rather than later.
According to former player Fabrice Santoro, there is close to zero chance to see a French player going past the third round in Paris.
“We can always hope but having no French players in the second week would be logical,” he said.
“We’re at a low point. Since the end of the 1980s I can’t recall such a bad year,” he added, pointing the finger at the French tennis federation (FFT), which has failed to groom any new talent.
“It’s not a question of chance. The FFT has the means to do a lot better. Some countries do better with 10 times less (money, infrastructure and opportunities). Something’s not right.”
No French man has won a Grand Slam title since Noah lifted the Musketeers Cup 39 years ago. While Mary Pierce, Marion Bartoli and Amelie Mauresmo have since won majors, the highest-ranked Frenchwoman at this year’s championships will be world number 40 Alize Cornet.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
