Andy Murray is on a hot streak. After ousting John Isner in the fourth round of the 2016 French Open, Murray has extended his win streak to nine matches dating back to the ATP World Tour Masters in Rome earlier this month. Will Murray continue that trend when he goes up against Richard Gasquet? Or will Gasquet give Murray a taste of his own medicine? Read on for a breakdown of this game.
Murray is making a trip back to the French Open quarterfinals. The world no. 2 eked out an easy 7-6 (11-9), 6-4, 6-3 victory over American John Isner in the fourth round to advance to the last eight, where he’ll next get Frenchman Richard Gasquet.
Murray had his service game going, netting 83 percent of his first serve points while winning 60 percent of his second serve points. Murray’s 32 winners against Isner pumped his tournament total to 66.
He’ll be looking to blast more against Gasquet, whom he has an advantage over in their career head-to-head matchup. Murray is 7-3 lifetime versus Gasquet. Murray won their most recent meeting, 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-3 , a quarterfinal round showdown in last year’s Paris Masters.
Murray has also beaten Gasquet at Roland Garros twice before. The first one was in the first round of the 2010 French Open – 4-6, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 – and the most recent was a 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 victory in the fourth round of the 2012 tourney.
Betting on Richard Gasquet
At long last, Gasquet has made it to the quarterfinal round of the French Open after beating Kei Nishikori, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2. Gasquet had failed to reach that round in 12 previous tries and as a reward for finally accomplishing the feat, he’ll be getting one of the best today in Murray. At least Gasquet has home-court advantage in the matchup today.
Gasquet, however, won’t just buoyed by the home crowd. Much of his success comes from his impressive play. He’s won at least 69 percent of his first serve points in four matches thus far in the tournament. Moreover, Gasquet is averaging only 19.8 errors per match.
While Murray leads the head-to-head matchup as mentioned earlier, Gasquet nonetheless was able to put up a fight in recent matches opposite the Brit. Gasquet lost to Murray twice last year (in Cincinnati and Paris) but did manage to stretch those matches to three sets.
Gasquet, who is gunning for a fourth career Grand Slam semis berth, is 118-69 on ATP clay court matches thus far in his career.
