"If Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal decide to retire, it will hurt me; it won't take too long" - Richard Gasquet
French tennis veteran Richard Gasquet is certainly closer to the end of his career than the beginning, much like other stalwarts such as Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka on the ATP Tour at the moment.
Gasquet, now 37, started his professional career more than 22 years ago, in 2002. Nadal, also 37, has strongly hinted that this could be his final year as a tennis professional, while 36-year-old Murray has expressed similar sentiments as well.
Wawrinka is older than them all at 38, but is the only one who is yet to explicitly make hints about his retirement, even if it remains inevitably close. Richard Gasquet, however, has seen two of his close friends hang up their racquets in recent times -- compatriots Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon.
Speaking in a recent interview with Dicodusport, the Frenchman admitted that he felt a little "strange" when Tsonga and Simon left the tour. When Murray, Wawrinka and Nadal do so in the future, Gasquet believed that he will feel the same emotion, perhaps even feel himself being pushed towards his own retirement.
For the moment, however, the former World No. 7 is focussing on not asking himself that question, instead trying to compete each week to the best of his abilities without thinking about the end.
"When Jo-Wilfried Tsonga stopped, I admit I felt a little strange. When Simon stopped, too. If Murray, Wawrinka and Nadal decide to retire, it will hurt me. And it won't take too long, I think. It's a matter of months. I include myself, although I try not to ask myself that question, so I can be fresh in my mind and compete every week. I play without thinking about the end," Gasquet said.
"The 200th or 300th in the world today is better than before, not in the top-10, because we had Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Murray, Wawrinka" - Richard Gasquet
During the interview, Richard Gasquet also spoke about the evolution of the game over the years, stating his belief that players in the top 200 or 300 today are much better than similarly-ranked players in the past.
At the same time, the Frenchman emphasized that the Top-10 at the time was better, as it had the likes of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka.
"Each match is very hard, that's what changes from the past. When I was among the best in the world, I had a margin against players like these. Today I can lose to anyone. I don't remember much from the past, around 20 games have passed. 22 years old, but I do believe that the 200th or 300th in the world, today, is better than before," Richard Gasquet said.
"Not in the top-10, because we had Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Murray, Wawrinka... it's going to It will be very difficult to repeat a time like this; what I am clear about is that the 150th or 200th in the world is much better than before , because they are better prepared and much more serious. That is a fact," he added.
Gasquet is currently ranked World No. 120 and reached the quarterfinals of the Murcia Open on the ATP Challenger Tour most recently.