Richard lost against Gilles Muller in Marseille 6-2 4-6 6-7. His next tournament is Indian Wells where he will also play doubles with Julien Benneteau.
The first set was a clear affair for Richard, no breakpoints to face, solid play on all accounts. In the second set he missed 4 breakpoints in the forth game, to be broken himself right thereafter. He had chances to come back for 5 all, but a bad linesman decision robbed him of a winner. Muller took the second set 6-4.Richard was a break up in the third set, served for the match and got broken again. He also had a minibreak in the tiebreak, but somehow could not bring his advantage home. Muller converted on his first matchpoint.
It was a sad loss given the circumstances, Richard had in total 8 (!) more points than his opponent. On a mid term perspective, this might be a blessing in disguise, as Richard has now more time to get ready for the US hard court season where he has many points to gain.
