2023-10-18 21:01:10
Paris (AFP) – Of the three Frenchmen on Wednesday in the second round at the ATP 250 tournament in Antwerp, two, Arthur Fils and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, qualified for the quarters, a stage that was unable to reach in the evening Grégoire Barrère, stopped by the Kazakh Alexander Bublik.
Published on: 10/18/2023 – 11:01 p.m.
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At the Antwerp tournament, another Frenchman stood out, Gaël Monfils (140th in the world)), who emerged victorious from a duel in the first round against the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics (52nd).
After signing his first victory on the main circuit on Tuesday, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (226th in the world) continued his momentum by qualifying for the first quarter-final of an ATP tournament of his career thanks to his victory over the Belgian David Goffin (105th) 7-5, 6-3 in 1 h 11 min.
The 20-year-old Lyonnais, junior semi-finalist at Roland-Garros in 2021, had before this week in Antwerp never made it past the first round on the ATP circuit.
Thanks to his success over Goffin, obtained with authority, he will face Alexander Bublik (36th) for a place in the semi-final.
Perricard, nicknamed “Gio the Giant” because of his imposing physique – 2.03 m and 98 kg – won the first set against Goffin by exploiting the first of his first two break points of the set, obtained at the best time, at 6-5.
In the second set, he did not break down and made the decisive break at 2-1.
A little earlier, Arthur Fils (38th), 19, had reached the quarters by beating the Estonian Mark Lajal (229th), a year his senior, in two sets and two tie-breaks 7-6 (7/ 4), 7-6 (7/2).
In this game, neither player lost his serve, and Fils was clinical in the two decisive games.
The young French hopeful has won the right to face the Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas (69th) in the quarter-final.
Lajal may regret not having managed to convert any of the eight break points he obtained.
Bublik, for his part, left Barrère (72nd) no chance: after winning the first set 6-4 by exploiting his only break point of the set, he flew away in the second, to win 6 -4, 6-2 in just over an hour (1h06).
Back on the circuit after more than a month and a half of absence, Gaël Monfils (140th in the world), after a sluggish start to the match, defeated the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics (52nd) 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the 1st round of the ATP 250 tournament in Stockholm.
Monfils had not appeared on the tour since his four-set loss to Andrey Rublev in the second round of the US Open on August 31.
Having difficulty getting started, he offered Fucsovics a break point in the first game on a double fault, which the Hungarian converted with a winning dropshot.
Facing the 37-year-old Frenchman, appearing out of breath, the Hungarian was content to return the ball and be more regular in the exchange than his elder, from whom he took the service a second time to detach 5-1.
At 5-2, the “Monf” reacted by obtaining its first break points, five in all in this eighth game, before finally abandoning the set to Fucsovics.
In the second set, the Parisian, more in rhythm, more solid on serve, made the break to lead 4-2. We then quickly found Monfils who was world No.6, as on this half-volley of a forehand placed on a return from Vucsovics at 4-2.
After obtaining his first set point with a short crosscourt backhand, Monfils immediately equalized with one set everywhere.
The third set was a long, hour-long battle, from which Monfils emerged victorious by taking advantage of a direct error from his opponent on his third match point.
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