2024-04-22 21:42:23
Of the ten French people entered this Monday in the first round of qualifying for the Masters 1000 in Madrid, only Corentin Moutet and Richard Gasquet managed to win.
Since 2022, the Masters 1000 in Madrid has taken place over twelve days, with 96 players in the singles draw, and while there are six French people entering the main draw, there were ten trying to join them through the two qualifying rounds. And the results of Monday are very disappointing for the French clan, with only two victories.
In the only Franco-French match of the day, Corentin Moutet enforced logic by disposing of Terence Atmane. The 88th in the world, quarter-finalist in Bucharest where he was beaten in three sets by the future winner Marton Fucsovics, eliminated the 135th with a score of 6-4, 7-6 in 2h05, in a match with 20 break points . Moutet notably saved five balls in the second set at 5-6, before winning a little later in the tie-break (7-3). Next opponent: the Jordanian Abedallah Shelbayh (255th).
It also goes for one of the veterans of French tennis, Richard Gasquet, who hopes to join the big picture to play the 1000th match of his career on the ATP circuit. And it’s off to a good start for the 37-year-old, 116th in the world, who beat Stefano Napolitano (126th): 6-4, 6-3 in 1h38. Gasquet, broken when serving to win the first set at 5-3, managed to regain the opponent’s serve to pocket the set, then won the second by breaking at 4-3.
He will be opposed in the last round to Croatian Duje Ajdukovic, 122nd in the world, who eliminated Pierre-Hugues Herbert (143rd) with a score of 7-5, 7-5 in 1h41. Despite his 12 aces, the Alsatian was broken three times, notably at 5-5 in both sets. This is the third defeat in a row for Herbert, who said last week that he had gone through very difficult times recently, with the heavy pancreas operation of his barely 1-year-old son, Léandre.
Barrère does not continue, Muller gives up
Besides Atmane and Herbert, there are six other tricolors to have fallen by the wayside in the first round. Starting with Grégoire Barrère, 108th in the world thanks to his semi-final in Bucharest, and who failed to confirm. While he beat Thanasi Kokkinakis (93rd) last week in Romania, he lost with a score of 6-2, 6-2 in 1h11 against the Australian, not obtaining a single break point.
His good friend Lucas Pouille (226th), invited by the organizers, also fell by the wayside, against the Brazilian Thiago Monteiro (118th): 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. The Northerner broke down at the worst time, at 4-4 in the third set. Titouan Droguet (151st) will not see the second round either, following his 6-3, 7-5 defeat against Thiago Tirante (104th), after having led 3-1 in the first set, and having lost his serve to 5-5 in the second.
Quentin Halys, 170th in the world, suffered his sixth defeat in seven matches, against Pablo Llamas Ruiz, 146th, who won 6-2, 6-4 in 1h17, losing his serve only once. The Frenchman led 3-1 in the second set. Alexandre Muller (109th), beaten in the round of 16 in Barcelona by the future winner Casper Ruud, was for his part forced to retire while trailing 7-6, 2-0 by Shintao Mochizuki (163rd). Finally, Hugo Gaston (95th) suffered the law of Hamad Medjedovic (130th). The Serb won 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in 1h40 thanks in particular to 10 aces. The Frenchman, however, had a break in advance in the second set (3-2), before losing four games in a row.
Also note this Monday the elimination of several former glories of the circuit, such as David Goffin (101st, former quarter-finalist in Madrid) and Diego Schwartzman (142nd, former eighth-finalist), while Dominic Thiem (110th, double finalist) As for him, he got through this first round of qualifying with difficulty, with a score of 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 against Felipe Meligeni Alves.
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