Gregory Gaultier

Ranked World’s No. 1 Squash Player for Several Years, Won the World Squash Championship in 2015

Video Interview

Audio

Bio

Gregory Gaultier is a professional squash player from France. He has won the 2015 World Open Squash Championship, the British Open twice, in 2007 and 2014, the Qatar Classic in 2011, the US Open twice, in 2006 and 2013, the Tournament of Champions in 2009, and the PSA World Series Finals thrice, in 2008, 2009 and 2016. He reached the final of the World Open in 2006, 2007, 2011 and 2013, and the World No. 1 ranking in 2009. Gaultier is affectionately known to his friends as Rubbery Gaultier.

Gaultier was the European junior squash champion in 2000 and 2001. He also won a British Junior Open title and finished as the runner-up at the World Junior Squash Championships.

In 2003, Gaultier was a member of the French team which finished runners-up to Australia at the World Team Squash Championships. In the semi-finals against England, Gaultier won the deciding match against Lee Beachill which took France through to the final.

At the 2006 World Open, Gaultier defeated World No. 1 and defending-champion Amr Shabana in the semi-finals, before losing in five games in the final to David Palmer 11–9, 11–9, 9–11, 10–11 (4–6), 2–11. In 2007, Gaultier again reached the World Open final, losing 7–11, 4–11, 6–11 to Shabana.

At the 2007 British Open, Gaultier defeated his fellow Frenchman Thierry Lincou in the final 11–4, 10–12, 11–6, 11–3. He became the first French winner of the British Open.

At the 2009 Tournament of Champions, Gaultier defeated the world No.1 Karim Darwish in the semifinal, and beat Nick Matthew in the final with a score 11–9, (2–11), 11–8, 11–4. He is the only Frenchman to have won the title.

Gaultier moved to the top of the world ranking on November 2009, a feat achieved after losing in the final of the Hong Kong Open a month earlier.[1] In 2009 he became the second French player to become world no 1.[2]

Gaultier has since won the Qatar Classic and reached the semi-finals of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions, and later won the Case Swedish Open after dispatching Karim Darwish in the finals.

In 2013 he was Gold medalist of the World Games in Cali against Simon Rosner in the final. He won the US Open against Nick Matthew 11-4, 11-5, 11-5. Two weeks later, he reached the World Championship final for the fourth time, losing again 11-9, 11-9, 11-13, 7-11, 11-2 to Nick Matthew.

In February 2014 he once again reached the top of the World Ranking, but again only for a month, as was the case in November 2009. One month later, in March, he won the Metro Squash Windy City Open, an other PSA World Series tournament in the University Club of Chicago beating the apparently injured Ramy Ashour in the final 11–7, 11–3, 11–4. In April he reached World Number 1 ranking for the third time.

In May he won the British Open for the second time beating Nick Matthew in a very quick final 11-3, 11-6, 11-2.

Interview Questions

• How old were you when you first started playing Squash?

• Who introduced you to Squash at the first place?

• When you realized that Squash is going to be your passion and profession?

• How different is the Squash sport now from before a decade or two? Is it more a fitness or mind game than before or how do you see it?

• Would the current top 10 players in the world beat easily the top ten players in the world a decade ago?

• What’s your current training routine during the season and off the season?

• How many times / hours you practice a day?

• Do you take off during the week?

• What’s your routine during a tournament? If your matches in the evening then do you do some exercising routines in the morning or not? Or it depends on how difficult is the match?

• How long is usually your warm-up routine before a match?

• What’s the best tactic to start a match? Do you prefer to start with long straight shots during the first game to measure the opponent or how do you usually like to play the first match?

• Which player you enjoy playing the most during the tour and which player is your most difficult opponent and why?

• AmrShabana Vs. RamyAshour Vs. Mohamed El Shorbagy Vs.Karim Darwish if we compare them all at their peak time?

• Nick Matthew Vs. Peter Nicole Vs. James Willstrop if we compare them all at their peak time?

• What do you do to reset your mental power to get back in the game if you are down 2-0?

• What do you do after each match to get back your energy for the next day match?

• What are your eating habits during the tournaments and off the tournaments?

• Your top 3 coaches over the years and why you think they have influenced you the most?

• How often you use a coach now? Do they travel with you in the tournaments?

• What are your biggest dreams in terms or Squash?

• Which tournament is your favorite in the tour and why?

• How early you arrive before the starting of a tournament?

• Playing in a glass court versus a normal court?

• What’s the best match that you have ever played?

• How do you describe your feeling when you get to the world no.1 spot?

• How different is the gap between the world top 10 players and top 50 players? Is it mainly mental gap more than a skill gap?

• Why its difficult to sustain the world no. 1 spot for long time, what usually happens?

• Do you think the current PSA ranking system is fair, do you have suggestions to improve it or modify it or you are happy with it?

• When you think you will retire from the PSA?

• Why squash still not an Olympic game?

• How do you see the future of Squash?

• Question from StephaneYou are French, why you are not playing with tecnifibre racquet, is it because you don’t like it or Dunlop is a better sponsor?

• Question from Stephane How big was the influence of Renan Lavigne on you and the French team?

• Question from Stephane How’s your relationship with Thierry Lincou and what did you learn from him the most?

• What are your main strengths and weaknesses?

• What the PSA should do to improve the Squash Sport?

• Question from StephaneMinimum prize tournaments that you participate in?

• What’s your retirement plan? What you will do after retirement?

• Do you feel under more pressure when John Massarella is the ref for your match?

• Why you decided to have a tattoo and what’s its meaning?

• Question from Imad Ahmed, do you know the systems that will create power in your body after reaching to this level or you leave this area to be handled by your coach?

• Question from Imad Ahmed how many hours you practice per day alone or with the coach and how many tough matches you play per week if you don’t have a tournament?

• Question from Emad Ahmed do you track your Bio-rhythm daily, weekly or monthly or you just go with the flow?

• Tell us more about your other projects that you are currently working on or planning for the future?

• What’s your daily life and work routine looks like?

• What are your other hobbies?

• What’s the biggest failure moment in your life and what did you learn from it?

• What are the Top 3 apps that you use on your smart phone?

• What’s the best advice that you ever received?

• If you have the chance, what would you say to advice your younger self?

• What are the top 3 people that you are inspired by?

• Do you listen to any music when youpractice?

• Do you follow any routine to sleep?

• What makes you really happy?