Last year, the 38-year-old French tennis star, Richard Gasquet, postponed his retirement plans, saying, “I still have a passion for this sport. I am fortunate to be in good physical shape, not to suffer injuries, and to be able to win some matches still. If I had a better ranking, I wouldn’t think about quitting, but being 130th in the world is not what I want. I’m going to try to reach Roland Garros 2025. I will play in Montpellier, Marseille, Monte Carlo, and some Challengers in France.” Gasquet’s best record at the French Open has been reaching the QF in 2016. This year, he has gotten off to a winning start by defeating his compatriot Terence Atmane in the first round. But in the second round, he’s currently taking on the world number one, Jannik Sinner. The match is still not over, but interestingly, American legend John McEnroe seems to be in a hurry to announce his retirement even before his final call. What did McEnroe say, though?

Well, Jannik Sinner has gotten off to a flying start in this match by securing the first set by 6-3 and then showcasing a similar dominating performance in the second one by outclassing the Frenchman by 6-0. The third set looks quite tight at the moment, but one of the fans recently shared a tweet highlighting how McEnroe seemed to have announced his retirement even before the end of this match.

The fan tweeted, “‘I have news for you,’ says John McEnroe, ‘he will be finishing his career in the next few hours.’ @tntsports RIchard Gasquet is playing Yannik Sinner on Chatrier and McEnroe says there are many French players are expected to be in attendance as it could be the last match of his career. Gasquet made his main draw Grand Slam debut at 15, in 2002. But when he first played the quallies in 2001, Jannik Sinner was not even been born (8/16/2001). McEnroe also said that Gasquet didn’t want to stop but his body is giving up on him.”

If we take a look at his career, he was ranked as high as world number 7 in singles by the ATP and had won 16 singles titles in his career. His best record in the majors has been reaching the SFs at Wimbledon (2007,2015) and the US Open (2013). Gasquet has been a poster boy of French tennis.

This year, the organizers of the French Open decided to not only celebrate Rafael Nadal’s everlasting legacy in this tournament and also in the sport as a whole but also planned to pay tribute to Richard Gasquet’s incredible 23-year-long career. Talking more on this, the organizers said, “The celebration, which will look back at the Frenchman’s immense career, will hopefully take place as late as possible in what will be his 22nd and final Roland-Garros.” How special has this tournament been to Gasquet, though?

Richard Gasquet reveals the real reason behind choosing the French Open to end his career

Although he hasn’t won a major title in his senior career, Gasquet did manage to win two Grand Slam titles in his junior career, and guess what? One among them was the 2002 Roland Garros, and the other one was the 2002 US Open. In a recent interview at the Roland Garros, he was asked why he chose this particular tournament for his retirement. In reply, Gasquet said, “As a French player, it’s simply the greatest tournament in the world. It’s a Grand Slam, of course, but I feel like this tournament is above all the others, ten times above, light years above all the others. It just seems right to end my career here at Roland. When I made the decision to call it a day in October 2024, when I felt as if the time had come, I straightaway thought of Roland-Garros.”

What was it like for him when he saw that he had to face Jannik Sinner in the second round? Well, Richard Gasquet has a 0-3 record against the Italian. Talking about the moment when he found out that he had to face Jannik Sinner in the second round, he said, “At the end of your career, for your last match, you couldn’t dream better than playing the world number one. He won’t be the easiest one to beat, but it’s a beautiful draw and it would be a pleasure.” 

As a result of his farewell, perhaps even Novak Djokovic’s match got shifted from Philippe-Chatrier to Court Suzanne Lenglen. There was a lot of controversy surrounding the Serb now being forced to play in a different court, but that’s a different issue. At Philippe-Chatrier, the crowd will be all up on their feet when the ‘Mozart of Tennis’ bids adieu to his incredible tennis career.