Lucas Pouille received ripped off. It was nearly 11 p.m. when Lucas Pouille…
Lucas Pouille received ripped off. It was nearly 11 p.m. when Lucas Pouille, one hundred and fortieth, raised his arms in a Palace that was nonetheless very copiously furnished. He had simply emerged victorious from a stable first spherical towards the 2019 finalist, the Slovak Norbert Gombos, one hundred and tenth in the world, 2-6, 7-6, 7-6. An hour earlier, the French saved a match level at 5-6 30-40. “It's a lot of emotions because the plateau is extremely high. It was hard, I had trouble finding my bearings so I started filing from the bottom. Afterwards, I served better, it put him under pressure and it did me a lot of good, ”appreciated Pouille nonetheless sweating. “I had the right mindset from start to finish. “He will have to do it again on Wednesday against the winner of Tsonga Safiullin, the shock of this Tuesday.
The 2004 at the rendezvous. It is the tricolor generation which points the end of the racket. Lucas Van Assche (400and) and Arthur Son (606and), both 17, made it through the two qualifying rounds to reach the main draw. A great performance for the French pair who found themselves in the final of the last Roland Garros junior tournament with a final victory for Van Assche.
This Monday, Van Assche, like the day before, had to fight three sets to win the Chinese Zhang. “I got out of it by hanging on when I was a little tense at the start,” he admits. Fifteen days after a quarter-final in Cherbourg, the ambition is intact: “I feel that I'm starting to have my place in the tournaments of this category. With the final table, another tournament begins. “With a taste of revenge since he will face Constant Lestienne who had dominated him in Cherbourg.
Arthur Fils, for his part, lives his first emotions at such a level of competition. Yesterday, he offered himself his first final draw in the Challenger without shaking against the Ecuadorian Diego Hidalgo that the France team could find in ten days in the Davis Cup. “It feels really good to win my first matches on Challenger. My objective is to win enough matches to qualify for the Grand Slams”. First stage this Tuesday afternoon towards Zhang, “lucky loser”. Arthur Fils can clearly rely on the recommendation of his buddy.
Gregoire Barrère three years later. Semi-finalist of the first version (eradicated by Bublik), Grégoire Barrere is again in Pau. For his entry into the operating, the one hundred and sixty fifth in the world, eradicated his younger compatriot Harold Mayot (401st), 6-3, 6-3. “I am happy to return to Pau with good feelings”, blew Barrère who ought to discover one other compatriot, Pierre-Hugues Herbert (eleventh), in the second spherical on Wednesday. “At the start of my career I didn't necessarily like playing against the French, but now that doesn't bother me. Besides, I think I have a positive balance against them. I love playing tournaments in France, ”additionally underlines the participant from Val-de-Marne, noting that the match desk had modified in caliber since his first go to to Béarn. “It's very robust, it is good for the gamers and the organizers. For him too? “Yes, as a result of I've at all times performed higher when the degree is excessive. I've by no means been good in weaker tournaments or after I was seeded 1 or 2. Against greater ranked gamers, I play properly typically. When you win matches in these tournaments, towards gamers who've already performed second weeks in Grand Slams, it is proof that your degree is there. »
Richard Gasquet package deal. It was him that the organizers had determined to place in the highlight on the posters of the match. And then the dangerous information fell this Monday in the center of the afternoon: the 35-year-old Biterrois, seeded quantity 2 in Pau because of his standing of 73rd in the world, needed to face the info and forfeit. The left-hander with the magic backhand suffers from a knee damage which dates from final week throughout the match of the 2nd spherical of the Marseille Open towards the Russian Rublev.