Richard Gasquet is a former top-10 player and is one of the rarities who still possesses a single-handed backhand, one of the best in the game. And if you are looking to understand which racquet powers Richard Gasquet’s game, here’s all the information you need below along with the racquet specifications.
The Frenchman’s first year on the ATP circuit came in 2002 and he played at the French Open as a wildcard that year, taking a set off his first round opponent.
A string of first round defeats followed at the Grand Slams till 2004 before he finally made the third round at the French Open (losing to Rafael Nadal) and fourth rounds at Wimbledon and US Open.
Gasquet’s best performance at a Grand Slam has been a semi-final appearance, which he has managed thrice – at 2007 and 2015 Wimbledon and 2013 US Open. In each of those semifinals, Gasquet lost to one of the Big Three players.
The former world number seven has won more than a dozen ATP titles in his career, having also made it to three finals at the ATP Masters competitions.
Gasquet’s game is based on the solidity of his backhand which isn’t just so pleasant to look at but is also one of the most effective in tennis. With a huge follow-through to his backhand followed by a powerful finish, it leads to Gasquet hitting a potent top-spin single-handed shot.
His forehand, however, isn’t the most powerful and definitely not as effective as his backhand, but the overall court play and volleying make up for that and have helped Gasquet conquer many an opponent.
So, Which is Richard Gasquet’s Racquet?
While Gasquet endorses the Head Graphene Extreme Pro, he uses the Head Liquidmetal Instinct Tour XL for play, having used it for years now. He strings his racquet with Luxilon Big Banger Original 16 String.
Gasquet also uses Tourna Grip and interestingly, is known to apply the grip as quickly as anyone, having done that regularly even during changeovers of matches. The racquet handle end for Gasquet also typically has a big protrusion.
Why does Gasquet apply the grip to his racquet during match changeovers?
Gasquet has a habit of applying grips to his racquets very regularly during matches and it’s usually at places where the humidity is higher. Since he has a single-handed backhand and forehand, it helps him with the control.
Why does Gasquet’s racquet have a protruding overgrip at the bottom?
Gasquet wraps his grip, Tournagrip multiple times at the bottom of the handle to help him better control, better fit in his palm, while taking it out of the upper portion of the handle because of the way he grips it single-handed, not needing the grip on the upper side.
Get the Head Liquidmetal Instinct Tour XL racquet specifications below.
- Length: 69.85 cm./27.3 in.
- Head Size: 100 sq. in./645.16 sq.cm.
- String pattern: 18×19
- Weight (Strung): 335 g
- Stiffness (Strung): 63 RA
- Beam profile: 23-25-21 mm
- Composition: LiquidMetal Titanium / Grafite and Piezzo Electric Fibers
The Head Liquidmetal Instinct Tour XL also helps provide an extra dose of spin which is quite helpful even on a bad day.
Watch the below video reviewing the racquet Gasquet endorses, the Head Graphene Extreme Pro:
While it is tough to buy the Head Liquidmetal Instinct Tour XL racquet online because it has been out of production for years now, you can get your hands on the Head Graphene Extreme Pro.
The best thing to do is to check our exhaustive guide on how to buy tennis equipment in the USA. Once you have compared the rates with the different online stores mentioned in that guide, you can then compare it with the price mentioned on Amazon, and if the latter is the cheapest available, you could opt for it.