Millennium Estoril Open, Portugal

Men’s Semifinals: [CR28] Richard Gasquet (FRA) vs. [CR31] Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)

On paper, there was not much separating these two players; however, in reality there is a huge difference between these two players.  That difference translates into more confidence for Gasquet when he steps on court to face Garcia-Lopez.  Yet, Garcia-Lopez is not lacking in confidence. He came  into this tournament on a high, having just won a title on clay. Gasquet has been ranked as high as 11, very close to the top 10; Garcia-Lopez has never cracked the top 20; Gasquet has won twice as many titles as Garcia-Lopez; and finally, the most significant statistic, Garcia-Lopez has never defeated Gasquet.

Garcia-Lopez seemed destined to change the record after he took the first set; unfortunately, that was not the case. It was not for a lack of determination, Garcia-Lopez gave everything he had but Gasquet just has more weapons. The third set tested the mettle of both players and fatigue was probably the one  intangible that Garcia-Lopez did not factor into the equation. He was unable to elevate his game when he needed to in the tiebreaker because he was exhausted. Gasquet gets another victory over Garcia-Lopez; however, it was not as one-sided as their two previous encounters, today Garcia-Lopez showed evidence of his improved game, sadly he came up just a tad short.

SCORE: Gasquet def. Garcia-Lopez 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(1)