In the first round of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Richard Gasquet will play qualifier, George Bastl os Switzerland.

Bastl is a very experienced player and probably his best ever win on grass was against Pete Sampras at Wimbledon, the last time the American ever played there. He and Richard have never met before on the ATP site.

Should he make it to the second round, Richard can make a rather educated guess at who he will play. Roger Federer too faces a qualifier in round one, and if he wins, will be lying in wait for Richard.

It is a tough draw for the Frenchman, Federer has won Wimbledon the last three years and has shown no reason to doubt he will make it four wins in a row this year.

Also in Richard's half of the draw in Halle are Marat Safin, Olivier Rochus, Marcos Baghdatis and Tommy Haas.

Richard is also playing doubles in Halle. He has paired up with Kristof Vliegen of Belgium and in the first round they'll play Haas/Waske. That match will be played on Monday in Halle last on court 1 with play beginning at 12pm CET.