The beautiful story is over. Arthur Fils, 18 years old and 308th in the world, had to surrender in the first round against the lucky loser Fabio Fognini. The French hopeful, who had beaten the Italian in qualifying on Sunday, lost this time in three sets (7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-2) after having made court no. 1. Arthur Rinderknech and Adrian Mannarino did not thrill the Parisian public before packing up. Only Corentin Moutet went to shake hands with the referee as the winner…
The Frenchman: Corentin Moutet
Even if he called his racket “the worst in the world”, Corentin Moutet, 23, managed to keep his nerves to overcome Borna Coric (26th and winner this summer in Cincinnati) in three sets (3-6, 6-3, 6-4). “I am satisfied to have got out of it, explains the n°64 to the ATP. He is a very good player, in good form at the moment. I believed in my chances. I had to try to raise my game, because in the first set he was much stronger than me. I’m glad I managed to do it. »
The Parisian from qualifying, who is playing the main draw for the third time, has always stopped in the second round. He will face the British left-hander Cameron Norrie (n°13) to thwart the statistics. “I’m going to try to play with my qualities and it’s going to be a very complicated match, he sums up, still not very vocal. I hope I can get out of this. »
The evening match: Gasquet’s regrets
Let’s face it, we were a little scared for Richard Gasquet (6-1, 7-6 (9/7)). The night session had barely started when Casper Ruud already led 6-1. For half an hour, the Biterrois was drunk with blows by the Norwegian, world No. 4 and finalist of two Grand Slams this year. Almost unplayable. Fortunately, the Habs, who are now ranked 74th, have seen others. And offered the Parisian public a little more resistance and suspense in the second round. He even served for the set at 5-3 before completely redacting his face-off. to redo his late mini-break. The French then had an opportunity to conclude but he ended up cracking…
The star: Novak Djokovic
The man with six titles in eastern Paris (a record) did not have an easy task for his 2022 debut. The Serb indeed met for the first time the atypical Franco-American Maxime Cressy, one of the rare fans of all-out serve and volley on the circuit. The former world No. 1 put on a set to get used to the pressure exerted by his opponent before making a big difference in the decisive game. Djokovic is not one of the best raisers in the world for nothing. A break at 4-4 in the second set, and a match point concluded… on the fly, were enough to ensure his qualification for the round of 16 against Khachanov or Huesler.
The number: 1
Beaten by the Briton Draper in two sets (6-4, 6-3) on the Central, Arthur Rinderknech has not lost everything. Thanks to the defeat just after that of Adrian Mannarino against the Pole Hurkacz (7-6, (5), 6-4), the Habs should keep (except for the exploit of Moutet or Gasquet) their fresh status as French n°1 , which he premiered at the Accor Arena.
The sentence: “I’m happy, I know that I have the level”
Despite a good resistance in the second run, Arthur Fils ended up cracking against Fognini. But the former junior world No. 3, winner of the Orange Bowl 2020 learned a lot from his first stint on the big circuit. Now back to the Challenger box in Roanne, then Helsinki… “I’m ready, there’s no problem, he says. I’ll see what happens, I’ll try to keep up the momentum and stay positive. »
L’image
Big mouth or dirty character, Fabio Fognini, 35, has a few flaws. But the Italian also has a great hand and an innate sense of defense. The former world No. 9 scored one of the points of the day in the last game of his match against Arthur Fils. After putting a back lob back to the court from the end of the racket, he returned to the net to counter the Frenchman’s amortization with a small cross backhand. Not bad…
The main results
1er tour : Hurkacz (Pol/n°10) b. MANNARINO 7-6 (7/5), 6-4. Draper (GB) b. RINDERKNECH 6-3, 6-4. Evans (GB) b. Nakashima (EU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4; MOUTET b. Coric (Cro) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Carreño Busta (Sp/n°14) b. Ramos (Esp) 6-3, 6-3; Paul (US) b. Bautista Agut (Esp) 6-4, 6-4; Fognini (Ita) b. FILS 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (4/7), 6-2.
2e tour : Rublev (Rus/n°7) b. Isner (EU) 6-2, 6-3 ; Djokovic (Ser/n°6) b. Cressy 7-6 (7/1), 6-4.
Wednesday’s program
Center Court. From 11 a.m.: Tsitsipas (Gre/No. 5) – Evans (GB), Medvedev (Russia/No. 4) – De Minaur (Aus), Alcaraz (Esp/No. 1) – Nishioka (Jap), Fritz (EU/No ) – SIMON. Not before 7:30 pm: Paul (EU) – Nadal (Esp/No. 2). Not before 8:30 pm: MOUTET – Norrie (GB/n°12).
Other matches: Draper (GB) – Tiafoe (EU/No. 16), Ymer (Sue) – Auger-Aliassime (Can/No. 8), Musetti (Ita) – Basilashvili (Geo).