Winner 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 in two days of South African Lloyd Harris (39th in the world), Richard Gasquet (70th in the world) crossed the pitfall of the 1st round with pleasure: “It’s always a pleasure to win matches at Roland-Garros. It’s nice to see the stands full here in Paris. There were a lot of people today (Tuesday), the bays are also full. It’s very nice. It’s not the same sport, we take a lot more pleasure, I hope it will continue like this these 15 days, but it’s true that we play for that. And there are always beautiful emotions, when you see a lot of people, even more the French public who support you. Playing here at Roland-Garros increases motivation tenfold and it’s fabulous for me to win this match and be able to continue the tournament. »
This Wednesday, Richard Gasquet will be on track again. Against Sebastian Korda (seed #27): “He’s a big player. It’s the new generation. He will be among the top 10 in the world soon enough. He’s a great player with a lot of talent. He is one of the new players who can win Grand Slams soon. It’s going to be a tough match, but there’s nothing to lose with the home crowd. I want to do well and I will therefore do my best to try to win this match. »
Before playing the doubles with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: “We both played our whole career; we played the same tournaments, we played the Davis Cup. His story is part of mine. We know each other very well, he’s a friend. Yes, obviously, there is a lot of emotion to see him and it makes me happy to play a double with him. I asked him if he wanted to do it, he was happy too. Yes, there is a lot of fun. He can be proud of his career and I’m happy to be able to do double with him. »
