Flashy Frenchmen Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet Square Off at the 2010 U.S. Open

In a entertaining match sure to make headlines from Paris to the French Riviera, two top French tennis stars met head to head in the third round of the 2010 U.S. Open. Although both have been heralded as enfants terrible since their first appearance on the tour, neither has yet delivered fully on his potential. On Labor Day at the U.S. Open, Monfils, the 17th seed, carried the day, winning over the unseeded Gasquet in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, 7-5. Both men are 24 years old.

Coddled Underachievers on the ATP Tour

Both Gael Monfils (gay-el mawn-feece) and Richard Gasquet (ree-shard gas-kay) have been called coddled underachievers throughout most of their professional careers to date. Both were highly successful juniors who failed to gain the maturity needed for the very top ranks of the men's field. According to CBS commentators John McEnroe and Jim Courier, the French Tennis Federation is known for coddling their top players. Even though, to their credit, each has gone outside the French brotherhood to find a tougher coach, according to McEnroe and Courier, the strategy has not proved particularly successful.

Physically, the two could hardly be more different. At 6'4" the dark-skinned Monfils is a major presence on the court, especially since he is muscular and agile-leaping, sliding, and leaning as needed to get his racquet to the ball. You can well imagine him succeeding in almost any sport due to his comprehensive athleticism and intensity. He wears the sleeveless muscle shirt to show off his assets. The pale Gasquet with his trademark backward baseball cap is much more compact and conventional in his movement. He claims to be 6'1" tall, but I have seen him in person and he seems smaller than that.

Gasquet Kisses and Tells

Both players have reputations for being less than 100 percent dedicated to the training and self-discipline needed to perform at the top of the game. Gasquet is currently 38th in the world and climbing back up the rankings after a 2009 suspension for a positive drug test which left his reputation in tatters. It did not help matters that he claimed the drug (cocaine) entered his system from extended kissing with a female he just met in a nightclub well known as a drug den!

Although the International Tennis Federation had suspended him for two years, he managed to convince an "independent tribunal" in London that he had not deliberately used cocaine. The tribunal, which bought his story about the kissing, reduced his sentence to just two months. (Source: July 15, 2009 article in the Times of London).

Monfils the Showman

The expressive Monfils is a consummate showman who seems to prefer the dramatic snatch-victory-from-the-jaws-of-defeat moves to a smarter, more measured approach to winning points and winning games. He is strong and tall enough to be a big server, but he seems to reserve the power serves for the desperate moments and key turning points. Monfils has all the talent to be a top 10 or even top 5 player, but he languishes at 19th in the world.

Although he was the number one junior player in 2004, he has won only two minor titles on the pro tour. His aggressive movement around the court has probably contributed to a rash of injuries over the years. Being almost perpetually injured has made it difficult for him to train and be in top shape for the big tournaments. Some have suggested that he exaggerates the severity of his injuries at times.

Other French Players at the U.S. Open

The highest ranking French player is Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (ranked 11th in the world), who was unable to make the trip to the U.S. Open due to injury. Gilles Simon lost to Rafa Nadal in the third round, while Julien Benneteau lost to Tommy Robredo in the second round. Veteran French player Arnaud Clement, 32, had an unexpected run at the Open, defeating 16th seed and resurgent player Marcos Baghdatis in the first round. Clement lost to Mardy Fish in the 3rd round.

In fact, while the French brought a total of 43 players to the U.S. Open in New York, including juniors, the only seeded men's singles player was Gael Monfils, seeded 17th. By defeating Gasquet, Monfils moves into the quarter-finals at the Open for the first time in his career. He will play against the third seed, Novak Djokovic of Serbia. Djokovic has to be seen as the heavy favorite in that matchup.

Additional Information:

The Top 21 French Male Singles Tennis Players with World Rank as of August 30, 2010

Note that Nicolas Mahut, who performed so well in the 11 hour marathon match at Wimbledon with John Isner is 21st among French men and ranked only 158th in the world!

11 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

19 Gael Monfils

35 Michael Llodra

37 Julien Benneteau

38 Richard Gasquet

42 Gilles Simon

64 Jeremy Chardy

66 Florent Serra

68 Arnaud Clement

78 Stephane Robert

109 Paul-Henri Mathieu

115 Edouard Roger-Vasselin

122 David Guez

137 Josselin Quanna

152 Adrian Mannarino

158 Nicolas Mahut

Sources:

CBS Coverage of the Monfils vs. Gasquet 3rd round match at the U.S. Open, September 7, 2010.

Website of the ATP Tour

Website of the U.S. Open

"Richard Gasquet 'Kiss and Tell' Beats Drug Ban" by Neil Harman in The Sunday Times (Times of London) on line, July 15, 2009.