Gasquet rallies to stun Van de Zandschulp in Bucharest

Richard Gasquet might be 38, but he continues to prove his ability to compete at the highest level.

The former No. 7 in the PIF ATP Rankings rallied from the brink of defeat on Monday in Bucharest, overcoming a 4-6, 1-4 deficit to surge past Botic van de Zandschulp 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the first round of the Tiriac Open presented by UniCredit Bank.

“I don’t know. Sometimes tennis you have to fight and you never know what can happen in the end of the match. I just tried to fight, to put the ball in, to play with more consistency and a little bit [deeper]. I did it,” Gasquet said. “It’s always tough to finish a match, to end a match, and it happened to him. Then I felt much better on the court and that’s tennis.

“Sometimes you win and it’s tough, but I did a great job and I’m happy to be here in Bucharest.”

Not done yet 💪@richardgasquet1 completes the turnaround vs van de Zandschulp to book his spot into Round 2 🙌#TiriacOpen pic.twitter.com/DT0ob6CWmO

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 31, 2025

Van de Zandschulp served for the match at 5-4 in the second set but was unable to complete the victory. Gasquet converted six of his 15 break points according to Infosys ATP Stats.

This is the Frenchman’s third appearance in Bucharest and first since 2008. Gasquet, who is retiring at Roland Garros, had not earned a tour-level win on clay since the Parisian major one year ago. He will next face third seed Flavio Cobolli.

Last year’s finalist Mariano Navone made a winning start on his return to Bucharest, where he overcame Serbian Laslo Djere 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 to reach the second round.

The seventh-seeded Argentine, who reached his second tour-level final at the clay-court event last year, committed just seven unforced errors and won 55 per cent (17/31) of points on Djere’s second serve to advance after one hour and 58 minutes in the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.

"I am very happy to be in the second round," Navone said. "I prepared well and played well in the first [set]. I had a little mistake at 4-5 in the second [set], but this is tennis. It is important for the start of European clay swing. I played very well in South America but didn't have the results I wanted. It is tough when you play good but don't close matches."

Navone now holds a 4-0 record in opening matches on clay this season and will next play 2024 champion Marton Fucsovics in a final rematch or Italian Luca Nardi.

Wild card Filip Cristian Jianu became the first Romanian to win an ATP Tour match since Marius Copil reached the quarter-finals in Antwerp in 2019. The home favourite defeated #NextGenATP American Nishesh Basavareddy 6-3, 6-4 on his ATP Tour debut in one hour and 33 minutes.

The 23-year-old Jianu, up 12 spots to No. 229 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, next meets Mongasque qualifier Valentin Vacherot or Damir Dzumhur.