"I think it was the right decision," Gasquet reflects on the final moments of his career
Richard Gasquet retired at Roland-Garros. Even though he will represent France at the Hopman Cup this week, the 39-year-old Frenchman played the final match of his career on the main tour in the second round of this Parisian Grand Slam against world No. 1 Jannik Sinner on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
In an interview with Émilie Loit, broadcast by the French Tennis Federation on its YouTube channel, the former world No. 7 from Béziers discussed the reasons that led him to end his career.
"Stopping tennis isn’t a problem for me because I eased into it gradually. I already knew last year that I would retire at Roland-Garros—it was settled in my mind. I was lucky enough to finish on the main court, and for me, that was a success.
I’m happy to have moved on now. At match point, I was happy to stop. If I could have kept going, I would have because playing tennis is fantastic.
But it was the right time for me to stop. I was fortunate to do it against Sinner, on the main court, in a packed stadium. The weather was beautiful! Winning the first round (against his compatriot Terence Atmane) mattered to me, but it wasn’t the same because it was colder and the conditions were different. I was at peace with stopping, very happy to do it on such a great court with a crowd.
What pushed me to stop was my age (39), the level too because I had fallen out of the top 100. Here, I was able to play Roland-Garros with a wild card, but otherwise, for Wimbledon, I’d have to go through qualifying. After that, it’s always harder to drop back to Challengers, etc.
You have to know when to stop, and it was the right time for me. If I could have kept playing, I would have, but stopping feels just as good. Both options are great for me—it was amazing to retire at Roland-Garros. I think it was the right decision," Gasquet explained.
