RIchard Gasquet: “I Spent the First 15 Days in Bed”

Published 03/21/2019, 3:18 PM EDT

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A few days ago, Frenchman Richard Gasquet gave an interview with GQ magazine. There, he opened up on the back injury that sidelined him for a long time. He was operated in January for an inguinal hernia problem. As a result, he was practically immobile for two weeks. He said, “I spent the first 15 days in bed, impossible to get up”.

Fortunately, his recovery has been gradual, but slow. The Frenchman hopes to be recover fully in time for the clay season in April or May next with Roland-Garros on the horizon. His interview with GQ magazine was mostly revolved around his health and recovery.

He said, “I had an inguinal hernia, like many footballers. The day after my last game of the season at Bercy, I had pain, suddenly. It’s the wear and tear of years spent on the circuit. The hernia opening was open, it was necessary to close the zones. They burned some nerves that were around, on both sides. It hurts a lot, it pulls. Now it’s reeducation. I hope to be back for the clay season. But it will be hard with slips. I can not imagine doing it for the moment”

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via Imago

He confessed that his morale had taken a beating because he wanted to play so much. Although the waiting game is boring, he was aware that he needed to be patient. Especially after an operation of this magnitude. Gasquet admitted that he was disappointed to miss the Davis Cup final, the Australian Open, Montpellier and the Sunshine Double. However, he knew that that is the career of a sportsman and that an operation is inevitable.

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Continuing on the subject of other injuries, he said, “Yes, I had others. But nothing serious or incredible. For the back, I stopped a month and a half, two months. I quickly came back, it was not so deadly. There, it’s more complicated.”

Finally, Richard Gasquet was asked how he will see out the 2019 season. He mused that he will not ‘attack’ for now. Instead, he will try to monitor his progress with his physio. He knew that there were other players like Andy Murray, who had it much worse than him.

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Speaking about his journey to become a professional tennis player, he said, “No sacrifices, no. My goal in life has always been to win games, to play. This is where I say the best, where I take the most pleasure. But it’s a way of life, yes. You have to think day and night about tennis. You have no choice if you want to be successful. You must never stop. If you take three or four days of vacation, you can pay them behind. This is where the best are even more pros than the others.”

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Written by:

Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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