Richard Gasquet, beaten by Arthur Fils, leaves the Top 100 for the first time in 956 weeks

Richard Gasquet, natif de Béziers, sort pour la première fois du Top 100 depuis 2005. MAXPPP – Thierry Larret

The young Arthur Fils, 19, eliminated Richard Gasquet, 37, (6-3, 6-4) on Tuesday in the first round of the ATP 250 tournament in Auckland, thus putting an end to 956 weeks of presence of & #39;s consecutive ranking of the Bitterrois in the Top 100 of world tennis.

World No. 7 in 2007, Richard Gasquet entered the 100 best players in the world in 2005 and has never fallen below this ranking since. Ranked 76th in the world, he had to win the Auckland tournament, as in 2023, to avoid slipping beyond 100th place, which will therefore be the case next Monday when it is made official of the new ATP ranking.

Richard Gasquet, "a great champion"

"He's a great champion, he's had an incredible career, so I'm really happy to be able to play with him. But I had a good match, and I'm really happy,” said Arthur Fils after his victory, who applauded Gasquet when he left the court. In the next round, Fils, seeded N.6 in Auckland and 35th in the world, will face Portuguese Nuno Borges, 66th in the world.