World No.10 – Gasquet has done incredibly well this year, and has started the new season with a bang. The 26 year-old has already got two titles to his name as he won the season opener in Doha last month and then the Open Sud de France in Montpellier last week. His performance at the Australian Open was impressive till he reached the fourth round only to be defeated by close friend Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He then continued in that hot streak, representing his nation in the Davis Cup, where he won both his matches in straight sets. In Montpellier, we saw a brilliant Gasquet performance as he deservedly clinched that second title. His defeat against Tsonga remains his only defeat this year, while he has won 14 matches already.

Across the net stands Viktor Troicki, the Serbian had a poor 2012 which saw his ranking plummet from 22 to 39 in the world. Most of his Serbian compatriots including World No.1 Novak Djokovic and World No.9 Janko Tipsarevic rate him highly, and believe he is yet to fulfill his true potential. The Serb had played a major role in Serbia’s 2010 Davis Cup triumph and played very well for a season after that, but now seems to have lost his way a bit. The former World No.11 ended last year with a dismal 27-29 win-loss record and lost 8 out of his last 11 match in the year.

Troicki, who is ranked 40 in the world at the moment, leads Gasquet 2-1 in their head-to-head clashes so far.