Tributes to the French General 🇫🇷
Stars such as @MoElshorbagy, @james_willstrop, @nickmatthew & more pay tribute to Gregory Gaultier following his retirement 🤩
Check out the full video here ⬇️https://t.co/YoCk8RRvB6 pic.twitter.com/e8S98aQVF5
— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) October 25, 2021
Gregory Gaultier Announces Retirement
France’s former World Champion and World No.1 Gregory Gaultier has announced his immediate retirement from professional squash.
Known on tour as the ‘French General’, Epinal-born Gaultier was one of the most charismatic players on the PSA World Tour and the 38-year-old spent 20 months at World No.1 between 2009-2018. He also holds the distinction of being the sport’s oldest ever World No.1, last holding the coveted ranking in February 2018 at the age of 35 years and two months.
Gaultier has been a regular contender for the sport’s biggest titles throughout his 22-year career and reached five World Championship finals. He ended a run of four straight World Championship final defeats with an emotional victory over Egypt’s Omar Mosaad in 2015 in Bellevue, United States which saw him become only the second Frenchman to taste World Championship glory after Thierry Lincou in 2004.
Gaultier also had an affinity for the Allam British Open – the sport’s longest-running tournament – which he won on three occasions, in 2007, 2014 and 2017. He remains the only Frenchman to win the ‘Wimbledon of Squash’.
Prague-based Gaultier also won the PSA World Tour Finals three times, in 2008, 2009 and 2016.
Since making his PSA debut in 2000, Gaultier has lifted 44 PSA Tour titles, reaching 83 finals, while he won 586 of his 758 matches on the PSA Tour. Gaultier’s final PSA title came at the Czech Pro Series 1, where he beat local player Jakub Solnicky in the final. His last major PSA title win came at the 2017 El Gouna International, which came in the midst of a run which saw him dominate the PSA World Tour and capture six successive titles.
Gaultier’s efforts leave him fifth on the list of all-time PSA Tour title winners, behind only Jansher Khan, Jahangir Khan, Mike Corren and Peter Nicol. Gaultier also holds the men’s all-time record for the most matches played on the PSA Tour (since records began).
Away from the PSA Tour, Gaultier led France to two silver medals at the WSF Men’s World Team Squash Championships and also won a gold medal at the 2013 World Games in Cali.
Gaultier suffered a career-threatening knee injury in late 2018, which required two surgeries to fix. After 15 months of gruelling rehab, he made a sensational return at the 2020 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions where, despite falling to No.543 in the world, the Frenchman beat Mosaad once again to make a sensational return to the PSA Tour against all the odds.
Gaultier’s final appearance on the PSA Tour came at the 2020-21 PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family where he exited to Welshman Joel Makin in the last 32.
PSA Chief Executive Alex Gough paid tribute to Gaultier’s career, saying:
“Greg spent two decades competing at the highest level of professional squash and is without a doubt one of the most charismatic and popular characters the sport has ever seen.
“Greg will be remembered by those that played him as probably the toughest player to breakdown on the court. His unwavering commitment, incredible fitness and mental strength saw him break a number of the sport’s long-standing records as well as break new ground for French squash, while his emotional comeback last year after 15 months on the sidelines made for one of the most heartwarming spectacles in squash in recent years.
“I want to thank Greg for his contributions to the PSA Tour over the past 22 years and on behalf of the PSA, I would like to wish him all the best for the future.”
