Richard Gasquet's red shirt was so soaked with sweat it had almost turned black. He could not have put more into his practice session if he had tried. Yet, an overriding sense of depression hung across the proceedings. Gasquet is at a troubling period of his career, everyone senses it and no-one can quite be certain in which direction he will head

Up in the stands sat Maryse, his mother, and a tennis teacher whose love for the sport transmitted itself to her only child. Either she or Francis, his father, have been a re-assuring, though sometimes suffocating presence since Richard was pinpointed at the age of nine as the future of French tennis - pictured on the front page of the famed Tennis Magazine de France and fawned over ever since.

That can be hard to live up to. The more precocious the talent - and Gasquet is blessed with astonishing gifts - the harder it can often be to bring it to bear. And every time Richard has shifted from beneath his parents' shadow, so they have sought to remind him that home is where the heart is. Until they finally cut the apron strings, Gasquet may never quite be the force his abilities demand.

At Wimbledon last year, he produced one of the performances of the fortnight, recovering from two sets down to defeat Andy Roddick in the quarter finals, unleashing a succession of winners that shook the American to the core, especially as he harboured a real sense that it was going be his grass court year. Last month, in a Davis Cup quarter final in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Gasquet was scheduled to play Roddick in the fourth rubber, with America leading the tie 2-1. Gasquet watched Roddick practice like a dervish on Saturday afternoon and promptly told Guy Forget, the French captain, that he would rather not play him in the first reverse singles. Paul-Henri Mathieu was hastily called in, lost the match and France the tie. The wrath of France descended upon Gasquet, who was accused of shrivelling in the face of combat. Forget was at a loss for words.

Still ranked No.8 in the world, the soon-to-be 22-year-old chose the week before the French Open to part company with Eric Deblicker, the bespectacled coach who had done more than anyone to take him out of the Parent Trap, and establish a definitive routine aaway from mere and pere. In a fascinating choice, Gasquet has teamed with Guillaume Peyre, the Frenchman who coached Marcos Baghdatis when the Cypriot indulged in his marvellous run to the final of the Australian Open in 2006. Maybe Peyre can light that kind of fire beneath Gasquet.

"I need victories," Gasquet said yesterday." This is what is going to help me to be able to play better again. I feel better when I practice. My legs feel better, I'm running better, so I'm on the right track. But the match is different. It's more useful. I'm ready to play a very long match. It was a good thing to practice with him (Peyre) during one week but I'm not sure it's going to be enough. I feel good. I played well during my practice, and I am still a favorite for the match (his opener here against fellow Frenchman Florent Serra).

"I know it's not going to be easy. This is the French Open. It's a good tournament, so I'm very happy to play here." The look on his face said something quite different.

Seeking for answers to why he has not established himself, the French press Gasquet has even suggested he will not become a real player unless he stops wearing his cap back to front, which does give him a faintly comical appearance. Philippe Bouin, the enormously-respected correspondent for L'Equipe, writes: "disguised as a child, he doesn't want to grow up and will never get to the top rung of tennis." And the focus will be even more intense upon Gasquet with the withdrawal of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, this year's Australian Open runner-up, with the worrying recurrence of his knee injury.

Murray goes wild

The first four wild card recipients for the Artois championships have been favoured. Two Wimbledon semi finalists, Jonas Bjorkman and Xavier Malisse, a Swede and a Belgian are very fair choices and one supposes that the British No.3 Alex Bogdanovic and No.4 Josh Goodall, merit the helping hand they have been granted. And so who gets No.5?

It has been the championship's tradition over the years to seek out a young player in the hope that early recognition of their potential will be remembered when they deliver that promise and the player will continue to support the event in future years. Last year, to much derision, a wild card went to Marin Cilic of Croatia, a couple of months before a Davis Cup tie against Great Britain on grass. Cilic is back again this year and will remain supportive for as long as he feels the tournament is in good hands.

I would think that Denis Istomin, an Uzbek who received a wild card into the main draw at the Australian Open this year, or Pablo Cuevas, doing his bit to put Uruguay on the map may come into consideration and, of course, there is the blindly optimistic wave of support for lower-ranked Brits whose world ranking is upwardly mobile - in the past year Alex Slabinsky leapt almost 60 places, James Ward is up over 80 spots and Ken Skupski has risen 77 places.

Imagine the Net Post's astonishment to discover then that the fifth spot in the second most prestigious grass court tournament in the world may go to a Wimbledon champion who has not played singles match on the tour proper since an ATP Futures in Cuba in 2005 and who does not, now, possess a singles ranking. Step forward Jamie Murray!

Jordan passes away

The passing last week of Hamilton Jordan, former White House Chief of Staff to President Jimmy Carter, places the current difficulties in men's tennis into sharper perspective. Jordan, who died of cancer at the age of 63, had been the architect of the birth of the ATP Tour in 1989, when the players chose to break from the ruling Men's International Professional Tennis Council, the enmity from which was so deep that their first meeting was held in a car park at Flushing Meadows, because the US Open authorities would not let it be staged on their premises. It remains an unforgettable scene. Fast forward 20 years and the ATP Tour is at a crossroads - an organisation still attempting to serve two masters, the tournaments and the players. Perry Rogers, Andre Agassi's manager, was voted off the player council last week, Jacco Eltingh of Holland is next in the gun sights. There is terrific player dissatisfaction with the way the tour is being run. Last week's attempted mediation between the ATP and the Hamburg tournament it is seeking to demote from Masters Series status, was described as a 'disaster.' The case is going to court in July, it will cost the sport millions of dollars that could have been better invested elsewhere and vast amounts of credibility, whichever way the judgment comes down.

One to watch

Sabine Lisicki is 18, she has just become the highest-ranked German on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour at No.83 and while she has only just over $100,000 in prize money in her career there is a glint in her eye; she is training at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida and the Net Post is hearing only positive things about her. It is a long time since German women's tennis had Steffi to sing about.

Five best clay court players in the Open Era

1) Rafael Nadal You just have to repeat his 108 victories from 110 matches on clay to appreciate this remarkable young Spaniard. What he puts into his life, he receives back a thousand fold. The absolute epitome of professionalism.

2) Steffi Graf Five victories from eight appearances in the French Open final across 11 years, a truly phenomenal athlete and player who brought a new dimension to the game. Christened Fraulein Forehand, her sliced backhand was just as considerable a weapon.

3) Bjorn Borg He not only played the game brilliantly, the best athlete many of us have ever seen, but spawned new levels of idolatry in this capital of chic. He simply drove the opposition to distraction. Like Evert, his ultra calm persona fitted the demands of clay perfectly. He wasn't bad on grass, either.

4) Chris Evert The American won this title seven times, re-defining the art of baseline durability and remarkable self-belief. She had the perfect temperament for clay, exemplifying patience and court craft.

5) Roger Federer Controversial perhaps, but as Nadal, his clay court nemesis has said, anyone who has won Hamburg four times, been to two French finals, three in Monte Carlo and two more in Rome, is a very good clay court player indeed. Would have won this title were it not for one rather amazing player.

Has Neil got his selection right? Or have any other views on the Net? Email sport@timesonline.co.uk and Neil will reply to the best of the comments next week.

The week in 60 seconds...

Nikolay Davydenko won his third title in four years in Portschach, Austria defeating No.2 seed and defending champion Juan Monaco of Argentina, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2. The 26-year-old Russian improved his career ATP final record to 13-4, by picking up his second title of the season after beating Rafael Nadal in the the Sony Ericsson Masters in Miami last month. Sweden won the World Team Cup in Dusseldorf with Robin Soderling, their leading player at No.44 in the world, completing an unbeaten week in singles and doubles.

Harman's Hint

It is best never to change the racket you have become comfortable with because the likelihood is it will not fit, hand in glove, as a racket should. Lleyton Hewitt has gone back to his old frame and is hitting the ball beautifully. Roger Federer has played with the same racket all his career and his record is not to be sniffed at.