It’s the end of the great Australian adventure for Jules Marie. The 32-year-old Norman, 226th player in the world, lost in the second round of qualifying for the Australian Open against Swiss Alexander Ritschard.
The Frenchman, who is also a Youtuber followed by more than 100,000 people, had nevertheless won the first round in the tie-break, but ended up giving in in three sets (7-6, 3-6, 2-6).
In the first round, he took advantage of the numerous errors of another Frenchman, Benoit Paire, to win for the first time in his career a qualifying match for a Grand Slam tournament (7-6, 6-4). Despite this defeat, his visit to Melbourne allowed him to secure a gain of 29,834 dollars (27,260 euros). This is more than the entire prize money collected for his nine finals in ITF events (lower divisions) in 2023.
Hugo Gaston still in the running
Other French people remain to follow in this qualifying tournament. Three have already passed the second round and can still hope to join the big picture: Hugo Gaston, Terence Atmane and Harold Mayot. It’s over, however, for Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Kyrian Jacquet.
In the women’s draw, two French women are also still in the running. Fiona Ferro, former member of the top 40, disposed of the Japanese Moyuka Uchijima (6-4, 6-1) in the second round of qualifying and will have to beat the Russian Polina Kudermetova to make her return to a Grand Slam tournament. Léolia Jeanjean will face the German Eva Lys.
