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[VIDEO] Nick Kyrgios vs Richard Gasquet highlights: 2015 Wimbledon scores, result

6th July, 2015
Start: 8:30pm AEST
Head to head: Gasquet 2 Kyrgios 1
Last Meeting: 2015 Estoril Open – Gasquet 6-3 6-2
Odds: Gasquet 2.00 Kyrgios 1.80
TV: Live and Exclusive on Channel 7.
Nick Kyrgios has a great chance of becoming a top ten player. (Photo: AFP)
Roar Guru
6th July, 2015
232
13673 Reads

Match result:

Australia’s singles campaign at Wimbledon is over after Nick Kyrgios lost to Richard Gasquet in a match that will be talked about for days to come.

GASQUET 7 6 6 7
KYRGIOS 5 1 7 6

After losing the first set 7-5, Kyrgios tanked three games in the second set after being broken early by Gasquet.

In the third game of the set, he let two serves go for aces, and hit the other two straight into the net in retaliation for a code violation given by umpire James Keothavong, Kyrgios having sworn after a point.

The umpire, in the right way, made the call which put Kyrgios off his game.

As he tanked he kept pointing to the umpire and applauded him for making the decision.

The incident, which attracted plenty of attention on social media, detracted from an otherwise high-quality match.

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Kyrgios started well, getting an early break to take a 2-0 lead. Gasquet responded by breaking back, and he took the next three games.

Games then went on serve until the 12th game of the set, when a wide forehand from Kyrgios gave Gasquet the set 7-5.

The second set, after an early break to the 21st seed, was no show after Kyrgios failed to play and lost 6-1.

Facing the same challenge as the year before – when he came back from two sets down – Kyrgios broke early in the third to take a 2-0 lead.

Gasquet broke back as the set headed to a tiebreaker. In the 10th game of the set, Gasquet saved two set points, including a point with an outrageous backhand down the line.

In the tiebreaker, Kyrgios saved two match points, and took the breaker 9-7 to bring the match to a fourth set.

Both players held serve easily throughout that set, leading to another tiebreaker, and at 6-4 Kyrgios had two set points. Unfortunately he then served his ninth double fault.

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Gasquet saved the second set point, and then brought up his third match point with a 7-6 lead.

Another double fault from Kyrgios brought Gasquet a victory 12 months in the waiting.

Kyrgios saved 11 match points, but couldn’t save his 12th. He will rue what happened in the second set and with more maturity in the future he will do things better.

That would be taking away from the performance of Gasquet, who served better than Kyrgios, hit more winners, and conceded fewer unforced errors.

Gasquet heads to the quarter finals at Wimbledon for the second time in his career, where he will face either Stan Wawrinka or David Goffin.

Match preview

It’s a repeat of the second round at Wimbledon last year as Nick Kyrgios takes on Richard Gasquet at the All England club. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the action from 8:30pm AEST.

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Last year, in a classic match at Wimbledon, Kyrgios fought back from two sets to love down to defeat the Frenchman in five sets.

He would save nine match points in the process, with some amazing serving, eventually winning 10-8 in the fifth set.

Kyrgios would make the quarter finals, which he can repeat today with a win against Gasquet.

Unfortunately, leading into the match, off-court problems have been the talking point for Kyrgios.

In Round 3, against Milos Raonic, he smashed a racquet on the ground which went into the crowd. He was lucky he wasn’t defaulted.

The Australian number two is now also embroiled in the ongoing feud between Tennis Australia and Bernard Tomic.

On Sunday it was announced, after Tomic’s attack on the organisation on Friday, that he wouldn’t be be facing Kazakhstan in the Davis Cup quarter final later in the month.

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It was reported later in the day that Kyrgios had told Tennis Australia he was not playing either because of the decision.

With all that drama, he now has to focus on tennis, and defeat a red hot player in Gasquet.

The Frenchman has had three straight sets wins, and smashed Grigor Dimitrov in the last round with a dominant 6-3 6-4 6-4 win was against the semi-finalist from last year.

Amazingly, Kyrgios in the last round, also knocked out a semi-finalist from 2014.

His performance against Raonic was impressive, as he fought back from a set down.

Both these players are producing brilliant tennis at the moment and this will be a match that will be close.

Overall, between the two, Gasquet leads the head to head 2-1. They faced each other nine weeks ago in Estoril, in the final, with Gasquet winning 6-3 6-2.

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In the Davis Cup, in 2014, the Frenchman also won in straight sets on clay.

Grass is a different surface though and Nick’s serve comes more into play. That is the key for him.

Against Raonic he hit 61 winners and served 34 aces. These numbers need to be the same against Gasquet for him to win.

Kyrgios will get more chances to break Gasquet, compared to Raonic, and he needs to take them to be in the contest.

Gasquet’s backhand will also need to be stopped. When that is going, he is almost unbeatable.

This is a match that Kyrgios can win. He has done it before and will be buoyed on by a crowd that seem to follow him in these types of matches.

My only worry is the off field issues. Will they play on his mind to drag him down on the court?

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I don’t think it will and the Aussie will be back at the quarter final stage of the tournament for the second straight year. It will be close though.

Prediction: Kyrgios in four sets.

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