It’s hard to win a Masters 1000 title.  The last time Richard Gasquet reached the finals of a Masters 1000 was at Toronto back in 2006 where he lost to Roger Federer in the finals.

That was six years ago.

It’s true.  Gasquet was a can’t miss prospect from France who had as much attention showered on him as a youth as maybe Venus Williams, probably more, given the French tennis machine that has rivaled the Spaniards in their ability to produce top players.  His career hasn’t followed nearly that same trajectory and nearly spiraled out of control when he was accused of using cocaine and temporarily banned from the sport.

In hindsight, Gasquet probably has too many deficiencies to ever get to the top ten.  His forehand has enough quirks that he can’t easily hit winners.  He stands way too far back behind the baseline despite frequent urging to hang closer to the baseline.  His backhand, while one of the best, can still be picked on.  It says something when top players prefer to hit to his backhand than his forehand.

Gasquet’s futility in Masters 1000 titles is not surprising.  It’s been a struggle for anyone outside the top 4 to win the Masters 1000 events.  ESPN announced a stat that said only one Frenchman had won a Masters 1000 in over ten years and that was Tsonga four years ago.  And that’s with talent like Gael Monfils, Gilles Simon, and even Richard Gasquet.

Consider David Ferrer, the best short guy in tennis, ranked number 5 in the world.  How many Masters 1000 titles has he won?

None.  Zero.  Zilch.  Nada.

It’s that tough.

Djokovic, meanwhile, left the Olympics devasted that he didn’t win an Olympic medal.  Djokovic was left a bit shell-shocked in his loss to Andy Murray, then del Potro, despite a marathon match in the semis, came back to win a bronze medal, a win that left the Argentine in tears.

With most of his rivals out of Toronto, this was a perfect opportunity to defend his title.  Nadal and Federer decided not to play the event (even Ferrer also chose not to play).  Murray decided to withdraw after his first-round match to protect his knee.  The transition from the soft grass at Wimbledon to the hard courts of North America is often considered a rough one, and Murray’s knees have always had some issues.

Djokovic, like all the top seeds, had a first round bye.  He faced Bernard Tomic in his first match.  Tomic was at the Olympics, but lost to Kei Nishikori.  He lost to Djokovic as well.  The next two rounds, Djokovic played on Friday, in a catch-up day when rain washed out Thursday play.  He played two of the hotter players this summer, neither of whom played the Olympics.  In the third round, he beat Sam Querrey, who is currently atop the US Open Series ranking board (points are accumulated for wins in the US Open series with bonuses paid out during the US Open depending how far a player gets).

In the quarterfinals, Djokovic played Tommy Haas who may be playing some of the best tennis in quite a few years with a win at Halle, a runner-up in Hamburg on clay to Juan Monaco, which propelled the Argentine to the top 10, and a runner-up finish at Washington, DC to the hard hitting Ukranian, Alexandr Dolgopolov.  In the semis, Djokovic faced countryman and fellow, top tenner, Janko Tipsarevic, but had a relatively easy time, 64 61.

Richard Gasquet had a tougher route to the finals and the better wins.  He beat Tomas Berdych in the third round, 64 62.  Berdych has been struggling with his game mightily.  He lost early at Wimbledon and early at the Olympics.  He beat a tiring Mardy Fish who couldn’t keep up with Gasquet after taking the first set fairly comfortably.  Gasquet knocked out another American in John Isner in the semifinals.

The finals, however, wasn’t expected to be that close.  Gasquet got a bit lucky in the draw, and Djokovic had motivation to get back to winning and make himself relevant for the US Open title.  The two played to 4-3, on serve, with Gasquet having chances to break, but Djokovic got the break, and didn’t let go.  A favorite tactic was to send Gasquet out wide on his backhand forcing the Frenchman to slice and slice before Gasquet either missed or Djokovic hit a winning shot.

Once he won that first set, Gasquet simply struggled to stay in rallies, often pushed back to the back wall, and left scrambling, trying for ill-timed shots.  On the rare occasions he could stay close to the baseline, he had his chances.  His serve kept him in a few games, and he still had an opportunity or two to break, but with Djokovic fending off 28 of 29 break points the entire tournament, Gasquet didn’t stand much of a chance.  Djokovic, ever gracious, said Gasquet had good wins and expected to see him in the top ten (ha!).

Final score: Djokovic d. Gasquet, 63 62.

As a side note, the Bryan brothers who were cruising to an easy win over Lopez and Granollers needed a super tiebreak to win the title.  This made it their 80th title and have now surpassed Navratilova and Shriver in doubles titles won as a duo.

Next week, Cincinnati.  Federer, Murray, and Djokovic are expected to play.  Most of the top players, other than Nadal, are in attendance including Ferrer, Berdych, del Potro, and Monaco.  Tsonga is not playing and Isner had to withdraw due to a back issue.

Cincinnati is another Master 1000 event.  Top seeds are given byes (in Toronto, all seeds were given byes).

The big question will be: how are Federer and Murray playing, and one question that won’t be answered is how is Nadal doing.