Richard Gasquet reflects on playing against Rafael Nadal, shares his regret after Spaniard’s retirement

Veteran Richard Gasquet recently shared what it was like to face Rafael Nadal on the tour. The Frenchman never defeated Nadal on the tour and had a 0-18 W-L record against the Spaniard.

Nadal recently decided to call time on his glorious career after representing Spain in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup at Malaga. Gasquet admitted his regret will be to never beat Nadal and after his retirement, he won’t get another chance to change his one-sided record against Nadal.

“I lost 18 times against him, it’s horrible. I’m not going to sell you a false thing by telling you that it’s a pleasure. It’s a huge regret for me not to have beaten him. Now he’s gone so I won’t beat him again,” Gasquest said on Super Moscato Show. (Translated from French)

“I knew him since he was young, I wasn’t particularly afraid. I beat him at 13. I thought I could beat him in Monaco (in 2005, defeat 6–7, 6–4, 6–3). After that I had a hard time, he progressed, there’s no doubt about it. It became difficult. When you’re an athlete and you’ve never beaten a guy, it hurts,” he added.

Gasquet also suffered a straight-set loss against Nadal in the 2022 US Open. 

“For sure, bad for me because I lost 18 times, especially when I played against him on clay. Even on hard court, I lost, you know, last one in the US Open,” Gasquet said in a recent interview with CLAY.

“I lost to him many times. It was tough, especially. His game was tricky for mine. He is one of the best players in history, so, of course, it was tough for me to face him every time,” he added.

Gasquet has announced that he will retire after the 2025 French Open.