Piatti Reveals His Reason For Dumping Gasquet

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 15th November 2013

Piatti Reveals His Reason For Dumping Gasquet

epa03939973 Richard Gasquet from France reacts after losing a point against Roger Federer from Switzerland during their group B singles match in the round robin stage on the fourth day at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 07 November 2013. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA |

Veteran coach Riccardo Piatti has finally thrown some light over his mystery split from Frenchman Richard Gasquet midway through last week’s Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.

World no. 9 Gasquet confirmed that Piatti was the man who ended their two and a half year long liaison and he was as surprised as anyone to see the Italian pack his bags and leave on his 55th birthday.

Gasquet, who won three titles this year, was forced to complete his round robin matches with just former player Sebastien Grosjean in his coaching corner and Piatti, formerly coach to Ivan Ljubicic and a youthful Novak Djokovic, explained: “Mine was a difficult decision that I have taken for purely personal reasons.”

Speaking from his home on Lake Como, Piatti added: “”I decided to talk to Richard after the match against Roger Federer, the day of my 55th birthday. I arrived at a point in my private and professional life where I feel I need to change something on the road that leads me both to be closer to my family and to complete even more my technical experience.”

“I can say that the three seasons I’ve spent with Richard Gasquet were very important for me and they allowed me to discover that behind the huge talent that everyone can see, there is a person of great qualities; an intelligent athlete, a sensitive and strong person, all qualities that in the past Richard had failed to bring out fully but that make him a real champion and not just a great artist of the racket.

“And the relationship with him and the rest of his team , Sebastien Grosjean and the trainer of the French Federation de Tennis, Paul Quetin was great. For me to follow Richard so closely during his matches has been incredible. Standing at his side, at that level and intensity, gave me a lot in emotional terms.”

Piatti maintained he has many ongoing consultancy projects with his team, that includes Massimo Sartori, coach of Andreas Seppi, the physical trainer Dalibor Sirola, video analysis expert Danilo Pizzorno and Ljubicic, who is currently coaching Milos Raonic. He is involved with tennis schools, club teams and summer’s clinics on the Mediterranean island of Elba.

He added: “Other projects are about to begin on an international level too and I’m very excited about this new phase of my life. I felt I had to take an important step towards a new structure of my way to work and I chose what I thought was the right moment to do it.

“Of course I’m sorry about stopping working with Richard but on the other hand I’m also very confident for his career because I left him at world no.9 at the best of his condition but with a margin to still grow in order to fulfill his dreams “

Topics: 10sballs.com, Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, Novak Djokovic, Riccardo Piatti, Richard Gasquet, Sebastien Grosjean, Tennis, Tennis News