Richard Gasquet could have been a contender. He should have been a contender. In 2002 the precocious talent, then the top-ranked junior having won the French and US Open boys’ titles, was tipped to conquer the tennis world. He’d already played a handful of matches on the main tour, and in the following few years became known as Baby Federer. He even defeated Federer at the Monte Carlo Masters in 2005, before reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2007.
However, it became obvious Gasquet’s ability was not matched by a similar physical and mental strength; his collapses from two sets to love up against Andy Murray in 2008 and 2010 being two cases in point.