End of applause for Richard Gasquet in Geneva: Two days before the start of the Roland Garros tournament, the Frenchman suffered a sharp 6-2 6-2 defeat on Friday in the semi-finals at the hands of Portugal’s Joao Sousa (79 in the world), who will face Norway’s Casper Ruud in the final.
In the round of 16, the 35-year-old Petiroa introduced himself to world number two, Daniil Medvedev (6-2, 7-6).
Gasquet, who has not reached the semi-finals on the main circuit since last July in Umag (Croatia), will play his first role at Roland Garros against South African Lloyd Harris (No. 37). Once his tournament ends, he will join France Télévisions station as a consultant.
On Friday in Geneva, the Frenchman, ranked 75th in the world, suffered a lack of efficiency against Joao Sousa, not being able to convert just one of the four break points he got in serving the Portuguese.
Sousa will have a chance on Saturday to win his second title in 2022 after Pune (India) in January, but he won’t start as a favorite against Casper Rudd. The N.2 ranked Norwegian confirmed his current form by eliminating American Reilly Opelka 7-6 (7/2), 7-5.
The reigning champions in Geneva, Ruud (#8 in the world) and Souza faced each other twice, in 2019 in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The Norwegian won both head-to-head matches.
