By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, November 12, 2020
Richard Gasquet edged Salvatore Caruso 7-6(4), 7-5, reaching his first semifinal in 15 months where he will play Vasek Pospisil for a spot in the Sofia Open final.
Photo credit: Sofia Open Facebook
Stinging his one-handed backhand with conviction, Richard Gasquet battled into his first semifinal in 15 months.
Gasquet edged a tough Salvatore Caruso 7-6(4), 7-5 advancing to the Sofia Open semifinals without surrendering a set.
More: Key Questions for 2020 ATP Finals
Contesting his third quarterfinal of the season, Gasquet pumped 11 aces, served 69 percent and won 81 percent of his first-serve points to reach his first semifinal since the 2019 Cincinnati.
The 34-year-old Frenchman will play Vasek Pospisil for a spot in Sunday's final.
Earlier, former Wimbledon doubles champion Pospisil applied his all-court aggression effectively winning 24 of 28 first-set points to sweep Nur-Sultan champion John Millman 6-3, 6-2 in 72 minutes.
The indoor court has suited Pospisil's style. The 74th-ranked Canadian took down his second seed of the week after knocking off fourth-seeded Jan-Lennard Struff in advancing to his eighth career quarterfinal. Pospisil has beaten Gasquet in three of their prior five encounters.
In today's final quarterfinal, Gasquet slid his slice serve into the corners stamping three love holds in forcing the first-set tiebreaker.
Caruso, who upset second-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime yesterday, banged a big serve to go up 3-1 in the tiebreaker.
Then a non-call helped spark Gasquet. A net-cord shot sat up, Gasquet swooped forward and whipped a crosscourt forehand that looked like it landed slightly wide. The ball was call good and since the tournament does not employ Hawk-Eye line-calling technology, Caruso was left to briefly plead his case to the chair umpire to no avail.
Instead of facing a 1-4 deficit, Gasquet closed to 2-3. Cracking a clean one-handed backhand winner down the line, the Frenchman leveled.
Gasquet lasered a crosscourt forehand closing the 58-minute opening set winning five of the final six points.
While Gasquet isn’t generally regarded as a big server, his slice serve stays low and is challenging to attack on quicker courts. Gasquet smacked seven aces and won 21 of 23 first-serve points in the first set.
The Frenchman flashed his one-hander down the line to exceptional effect holding for a 2-1 second-set lead.
That backhand bolt down the line helped Gasquet earned the first break point of the second set. Caruso tried hitting behind the Frenchman to avoid his backhand but found the net instead as Gasquet broke for a 4-2 lead.
Serving for the semifinals at 5-3, Gasquet tightened up committing three unforced errors including pasting his signature shot into net as Caruso broke back.
That break reignited the Italian’s intensity as he gave Gasquet a dose of his own medicine hammering a backhand winner down the line to level at 5-all.
Gasquet dipped a short slice coaxing a netted backhand for match point and Caruso lifted a forehand long to end it after one hour, 56 minutes.