Gasquet after his last appearance in Montpellier: "It's the end I wanted".

Richard Gasquet and Montpellier are over. Three-time winner of the tournament in 2013, 2015 and 2016, the 38-year-old from Biterrois played the last match of his career in the Hérault.

After losing to Tallon Griekspoor (6-3, 3-6, 7-5), the Frenchman was duly celebrated on court to honor his final appearance before retiring to Roland-Garros.

In a press conference, Gasquet spoke after this moment of communion with the public.

"I was focused on the game because I played better in the third set. I was returning well, I wasn't making any mistakes. I saw him crack, but he didn't.

Emotions at the end are always normal. And then after the match, it was pleasant despite the defeat.

I knew that when I stopped playing, there would be four tournaments close to my heart: Montpellier, Marseille, Monte-Carlo and Roland-Garros.

The first one is over. I didn't believe in this tournament. I played in all the clubs in the region when I was a kid, so a professional tournament here in 2010 was great.

You have to know when to stop, and now was the time to do it. That's the way life is. I've already taken things pretty far at almost 39.

But the audience was there and it was a good ending. You never know what the end will be like. We've seen with certain players lately that the level isn't always there.

Winning here three times will go down in history. I won't be playing here again, it's very special. But I wasn't injured, I played well, and that's the end I wanted.

Finishing well is complicated. You don't know which tournament you're going to finish in, or whether you're going to miss out on the last match... We know that the level is lower, so there's that fear, yes.

But tonight, I was able to play a good match with the public in the stands. That's important, even if there's always a taste of unfinished business.

I'm going to try and think about something else and tell myself that it was a good thing for the last one," he said, according to L'Équipe.