Hometown hero Richard Gasquet has unfortunately crashed out of the 2020 French Open. Gasquet proved to be a gracious loser even though his exit came as early as the first round. Following his loss to Roberto Bautista Agut, the Frenchman showered his opponent with heaps of praise for his consistency.

Roberto Bautista Agut is an incredible player who is yet to make it past the fourth round at Roland Garros. The Spaniard has only accumulated one clay-court title in his career, which came all the way back in 2014. However, with an undying determination, he is once again out in Paris, trying his luck. 

Gasquet and Bautista Agut’s matchup on Court Simonne Mathieu marked the ninth overall meeting and the first one on clay between the pair. With this win, the latter now leads the H2H 7-2. 

“He’s a very intelligent player. He’s a very, very solid player. Impressive but he doesn’t make any errors,” Gasquet said of Bautista Agut. “He has a very good forehand.”

“He’s really strong, but in terms of charisma, he’s probably not Kyrgios but he has an incredible game. He never makes a mistake and you know it is going to be a tough match. That’s why he’s been in the Top 10 for such a long time,” the Frenchman added. 

Gasquet thinks Roberto Bautista Agut can defeat Novak Djokovic

This isn’t a surprising statement. In head-to-head meetings, Djokovic clearly leads Bautista Agut with nine victories against the 32-year-old. However, the Spaniard has notched up three wins over the Serbian, one of which had come at Wimbledon in 2019.

Thus, Richard Gasquet thinks a player of Bautista Agut’s quality can certainly overcome the mighty challenge that Djokovic poses.

“Whatever happens from the first point to the last point of the match, whether it’s 2, 3 or 4 hours, he’ll be at his best. He’s really fit, hugely fit.” 

“He runs all over the place and makes very few errors — right to left. He can outplay Djokovic with consistency. He always maintains the rhythm every time….he hits hard and hardly makes errors.” 

With a 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-1 victory over Richard Gasquet, Roberto Bautista Agut moves into the second round of the 2020 French Open, where he’ll face Attila Balazs of Hungary.