Richard Gasquet undergoes successful groin surgery, should be back for clay

. After four straight losses in February and March, Richard was on the lowest position in the ranking since September 2010 at the beginning of April before bouncing back to advance into the quarter-final in Monte Carlo where he lost to Rafael Nadal.

Despite an early exit at Wimbledon, Richard returned into the top-30 in July and he finished the season in that group following the semi-final run in Tokyo and Antwerp. Richard defeated Denis Shapovalov in the opening round of the home Paris Masters before a 6-3, 6-3 loss to the defending champion Jack Sock in the second round, announcing he is dealing with a groin injury that put the participation at the Davis Cup final against Croatia in Lille in doubt.

As expected, Richard failed to recover in time, unable to help his teammates who lost all three singles matches against the Croats to stay empty-handed in front of the partisan crowd. Everything went well and the Frenchman will start the recovery process that should last for two months, expecting to come back on clay in April. This means Richard will also skip the favorite home event in Montpellier in February where he won 24 out of 29 matches and played in six consecutive finals, with three titles under his belt.