Richard Gasquet bids farewell after two decades of US Open participation

Richard Gasquet said goodbye to memories of the US Open, which lasted more than 20 years, on Wednesday.

Richard Gasquet, the 38-year-old Frenchman who reached the semifinals in 2013, lost in the second round of qualifying for the US Open to Vilius Gaubas. Meanwhile, he was honoured with an on-court presentation after the game.

During the ceremony, US Open tournament director Stacey Allaster presented the former World No. 7 in the PIF ATP Rankings with a symbol of thanks, and Gasquet addressed the crowd.

Gasquet was aiming to reach his 20th consecutive US Open main draw, before the defeat.

“I will keep these memories for my life,” Gasquet said. “It’s a little bit sad for me to finish this year [like this], but I’m really happy with how I’ve played here in New York… to be here with the crowd, to feel this emotion, these feelings. You play tennis to feel these kind of feelings. It’s electric, it’s incredible for me to play in New York.”

“I’m so lucky,” Gasquet added. “I played on the best court here with a lot of crowds. It was the most incredible atmosphere you can face on a tennis court, playing with 20,000 people on a centre court. I played [Roger] Federer, [Novak] Djokovic, [Rafael] Nadal, the best players on this court, and I’m proud with the way I played here in New York.”

With no official retirement date announced, Gasquet is still putting in a lot of work on the Tour. In Stuttgart last year, the 16-time tour-level champion won his 600th match. Gasquet played in his 1,000th match at Madrid this season.