TENNIS in DEPTH.

Richard Gasquet’s  plea to have his French Open first-round match with Andy Murray postponed fell on deaf ears.

Gasquet asked tournament referee Stefan Fransen to stage the clash on Tuesday after he suffered a leg injury winning his first ATP title in more than three years on Saturday.

But Fransen refused to make an exception for the Frenchman, who beat Fernando Verdasco in the Nice Open final.

Gasquet is understood to be upset with the decision, claiming before a second appeal was turned down that it would be unfair to force him to play within a day of his arrival in Paris from France’s south coast.

However, moving his and Murray’s match to Tuesday would almost certainly have meant the victor playing two days in succession at some point during the tournament.

It is unclear how seriously Gasquet’s left leg is troubling him, although he twice required on-court treatment during his 6-3 5-7 7-6 (7/5) win.

That result was a 10th victory in a row for the former world number seven, who won a Challenger event in Bordeaux last week.

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