2023-11-02 17:47:58
Despite a neck-and-neck match with the German Alexander Zverev, Wednesday November 1, 2023, Ugo Humbert, last representative of the French camp at Bercy, was unable to advance to the third round. FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP
Thursday, November 2, Day of the Dead, also the day on which French tennis is buried in Bercy. Of the fifteen players entered at the Masters 1000 in Paris, none qualified for the third round. The day before, the last survivor of the French camp, Ugo Humbert, worked bravely for 3 hours and 30 minutes against Alexander Zverev – to the point of feeling uncomfortable, leaving the court – but the German ended up having the last word (6-4, 6-7, 7-6).
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Sitting in the presidential stand, the boss of the French Tennis Federation (FFT), Gilles Moretton, had a front-row seat to witness the extent of the debacle. This result is not unprecedented: it is the second time in the history of the tournament that no Frenchman is invited to the round of 16. In 2018, the same defeat took place, except that there were three in the running in the 2nd round, compared to only one this year. A single victory in the main draw (after qualifying) is unheard of since the creation of the tournament in 1986. The statistic sits on a pile of disillusionment, the top of which is difficult to see. Breaking sad records, French tennis has become accustomed to it.
Four years since no male representative has reached the final four of a Grand Slam (Lucas Pouille, in Melbourne, in 2019). Nor a Masters 1000 (veteran Richard Gasquet, in Cincinnati, August 17, 2019). That’s 1,538 days of crossing the desert… And even more, if we go back to the last trophy won in this category (Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in Toronto, in 2014). “When you are at the bottom of the pool, you can only go back up. I think we were at the bottom of the pool. Let’s be careful and humble, but I think we’re on the right track.” said Mr. Moretton in an interview with West France, in March 2022, one year after his election as head of the FFT.
In 2023, gloomy plain in Grand Slam
But it is clear that in 2023, French men’s tennis has still not lifted its head above water. No player has reached the second week of a Grand Slam – and only one player has arrived, Caroline Garcia, in Melbourne – only two have been able to reach the quarter-finals of a Masters 1000: Adrian Mannarino (at Cincinnati) and Ugo Humbert (in Shanghai). At Roland Garros, for the second time in three years, men and women combined, no one made it past the second round.
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Certainly, France still has 13 residents in the Top 100, Arthur Fils (19 years old, 36th in the world) opened his prize list this year (in Lyon) and Ugo Humbert will reach his best ranking on Monday (22nd). Richard Gasquet and Gaël Monfils started winning again this year… at 37 years old. But Bercy’s results are symptomatic of the evil that is eating away at blue, white and red tennis. However, Moretton, the first, was delighted with a draw “rather generally favorable for [les] French “. Adrian Mannarino and Alexandre Müller were beaten by players from qualifying (Botic van de Zandschulp and Roman Safiullin), Benjamin Bonzi by Dusan Lajovic, a lucky loser (“lucky loser”, player drafted from qualifying despite a defeat, thanks to a last-minute withdrawal).
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