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LONDON, July 10 (UPI) -- According to the world tennis rankings, he's the 20th best men's player on the planet -- but France's Richard Gasquet remains a very long shot to win at Wimbledon this year. If he can survive Friday, though, those odds will improve -- substantially. If he can survive the top-ranked men's player in the world, that is.
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As Wimbledon prepares for the men's semifinals Friday, the remaining players are pretty consistent with what the tournament has seen in recent years. There's No. 1 Novak Djokovic, No. 2 Roger Federer, No. 3 Andy Murray -- and then there's Gasquet, seeded 21st.
It would have been even more by-the-numbers had the Frenchman not rallied from a 2-sets-to-1 deficit to upset 4th-seeded Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
"I'm the worst, when you see Federer, Djokovic, Murray and me, so I want to enjoy it," Gasquet said after defeating the Swiss Wawrinka. "I'm French. I know what it means to win that tournament. It's a quarterfinal in the biggest tournament in the world."
The clear underdog among this year's final four, Gasquet hopes to become the first Frenchman to win Wimbledon since Yvon Petra did it in 1946. The last time a French men's player even appeared in a Wimbledon final happened 18 years ago when Cedric Pioline was run out of the building by American Pete Sampras.
Moreover, Gasquet would be the lowest-ranked player to appear in a Wimbledon final since unseeded Australian ace Mark Philippousis made it in 2003. He would be the lowest-ranked player to win the tournament since wildcard Croatian sensation Goran Ivanisevic came out of nowhere and took over the All England Club two years earlier.
Gasquet, though, has been here before. He advanced to the semifinals in 2007 but lost in straight sets to the eventual champion, Federer.
"Of course it's great to win and come back here in the semis eight years later. After 2007, it's a long time," he said. "I know what it means to be in the semis ... I'm proud because there are big players in the semis."
On paper, it might appear a miracle that Gasquet is still alive. In his five-set thriller over Wawrinka, Gasquet served up only six aces against the Swiss giant's 22, and he hit only 46 winners to Wawrinka's 73. But the difference in the match was made by unforced errors -- as Wawrinka's 48 doubled Gasquet's 24.
However, you can bet he won't bank on errors to get him into Sunday's final. The top-ranked Djokovic doesn't miss often. In fact, the Serbian ace hasn't committed more than 20 errors since his opening round match. So far, Djokovic is averaging just 15.4 errors per match -- which means Gasquet will have to capitalize on the few opportunities he gets if he wants to make it to Sunday.
What's more, Djokovic, Federer and Murray have all won Wimbledon before. Gasquet, meanwhile, has yet to win any Grand Slam title. Semifinal appearances at Wimbledon this year and in 2007, and a semifinal appearance at the 2013 U.S. Open are the closest he's come.
Regardless of how he performs Friday, though, Gasquet has already assured that he will rise dramatically in the tennis rankings. He's guaranteed at least 720 rankings points for reaching the semis -- and would collect 1,200 with a win Friday. Winning the tournament would net him 2,000.
Then, of course, there's also the money. Gasquet has already guaranteed himself at least $724,306 for reaching the semis. Reaching the final would earn him $1.4 million, and winning the gold Wimbledon trophy comes with a cool $2.9 million.
The semifinal between Gasquet and Djokovic is scheduled to open play on Centre Court Friday, followed by the other semifinal between Federer and Murray.
