Richard Gasquet told the press Sunday afternoon that he didn’t want to play Andy Roddick in the first singles match of the day when he could have tied up the match with a win. Instead he lost a meaningless fifth match. Many questioned his heart on Monday. Stephanie Miles in the Montreal Gazette wrote of him: Hottie Richard Gasquet: big baby.

Tom Perotta in the New York Sun wrote: “For Gasquet, the performance — or lack of performance — marked a new low, which is saying something when one considers that the Frenchman defaulted his second-round match at last year’s U.S. Open because of a cold. The last time Gasquet and Roddick met, at Wimbledon last year, Gasquet stunned the American by recovering from a two-set deficit. Roddick didn’t hide his desire to return the favor. “I owe Gasquet one from last year, and I look forward to that opportunity,” he said. Gasquet, obviously, did not. After Llodra and Clement defeated the Bryan brothers on Saturday, France’s captain, Guy Forget, made it clear that he didn’t think much of Gasquet’s excuses…”I feel it should be an honor to play for your country,” Forget said. “Richard felt like he couldn’t play at a decent level [on Friday]. Now the question is how he really feels. But I’m not begging him. If he doesn’t want to play he won’t go out.”…I don’t envy Forget — what respected former top pro should be made to beg from a millionaire? — but I would have loved to see him tell Gasquet to take the next plane home if he wasn’t ready to play. Why keep the guy around when the rest of the team is fighting like mad against the most dogged team in the field and a rowdy crowd?