AP
April 16, 2024
By JEROME PUGMIREAP Sports Writer
MONTE CARLO, Monaco (AP) _ Richard Gasquet was so tired he couldn't think.
The 18-year-old Frenchman, coming off the biggest win of his career, blew a one-set lead and wasted five break points in the final set before losing to fellow teenager Rafael Nadal 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-3 Saturday in the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Masters.
``Physically, I couldn't give any more,'' Gasquet said. ``I'm not saying that I would have won because Nadal's a great player. But had I been physically fresh I would have had a better chance.''
Nadal, a Spaniard seeded 11th, will face defending champion Guillermo Coria of Argentina in Sunday's final. Coria beat two-time champion Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 6-2, 7-5 to reach his first ATP final of the year.
Gasquet, 15 days younger than Nadal, needed more than two hours to upset top-ranked Roger Federer in Friday's quarterfinals. His third-round victory over Nikolay Davydenko also went three sets.
But Gasquet could not finish off Nadal as he did previous opponents.
``Nadal gets everything back and then just produces shots out of nowhere,'' said Gasquet, who made 70 unforced errors in the match.
Failing to convert the five break points in the final set didn't help, either.
``I was not lucid on those points because I was so tired I couldn't think,'' Gasquet said.
Both teenagers have done well in Monte Carlo. In 2002, 15-year-old Gasquet beat Franco Squillari. A year later, Nadal eliminated French Open champion Albert Costa before losing to Coria.
This year, Nadal defeated French Open champion Gaston Gaudio 6-3, 6-0.
``This is a strange result, no?'' Nadal said. ``To beat the French Open champion this way. I think it is a bigger shock than Gasquet beating Federer.''
Gasquet, who had saved three match points against Federer, had 58 winners but made more than twice as many unforced errors as Nadal's 34. Gasquet did save one match point, then sent a wild backhand into the net.
``He missed some chances and I came back,'' Nadal said. ``He played some unbelievable tennis, but he was hitting the ball so hard I think this made him more tired.''
Gasquet converted only five of 14 break points; Nadal took advantage of seven of his 12 chances.
Three superb backhand winners helped Gasquet take a 2-0 lead in the second set, but Nadal won the next five games as the Frenchman received treatment for a sore back. He lost the set with an unforced error.
In the fifth game of the third set, Gasquet missed four chances to break Nadal, then needed a massage for leg cramps.
Nadal won titles this season in Mexico and Brazil and lost to Federer in the final at Key Biscayne, Fla.
Coria, seeded sixth, trailed 4-0 in the second set, but won when Ferrero netted a drop shot.
``I was playing very well for those four games, probably the best since I was at my top level on clay,'' Ferrero said. ``Maybe I relaxed too much and he started to fight again.
``But I'm happy with the way I played this week, so early in the season,'' Ferrero added.
Ferrero, a former French Open champion, was appearing in his first ATP semifinal in almost a year. In 2003, he won his second straight Monte Carlo Masters by beating Coria
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