The bright spot continues for French men’s tennis. While the women’s team did not shine at Wimbledon, with the elimination of the last three representatives in the second round, the men have had a brilliant first week. This Thursday, at the start of the day, Arthur Fils created the feat by taking advantage of Hubert Hurkacz’s withdrawal when he was only one point away from victory. Gaël Monfils, for his part, confirmed his victory which began on Wednesday against Stan Wawrinka.
But the good results didn’t stop there. Against the number 21 seed, the Russian Karen Khachanov, Quentin Halys pulled out all the stops to play in the third round of Wimbledon for the second year in a row. Mentally strong, the Frenchman didn’t waver even though he was down two sets to one. He finally won in five sets and 2 hours and 48 minutes of play (4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4). The level will increase again in the next match, with Holger Rune as his opponent.
Rinderknech, only defeat of the day
Lucas Pouille will also play in the third round. The Northerner, only 212th in the world after numerous physical problems, took advantage of the withdrawal of Thanasi Kokkinakis, who slipped and injured his knee during the third set (2-6, 7-5, 5-2 ab.). The Frenchman nevertheless came back into the game, with a superb second set and a break in the third. He will face Alex De Minaur, 9th seed, in the third round.
Only one Frenchman lost this Thursday. It was Arthur Rinderknech, who fought for a long time before giving in to the American Taylor Fritz (6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4). Taking advantage of his overpowering serve, the Varois delivered a solid performance, and will probably have no regrets at the end of this match. This will not be the case for Caroline Garcia, world number 24, who suffered a new snub against Bernarda Pera (3-6, 6-3, 6-4).
