Invincibility had to end one day. At 19 years old, Alex Lanier had the distinction of never having lost in a Super 750 tournament. For his first participation in a competition of this caliber, the Frenchman (world No. 21) won the Japan Open in August, and he was flying again this week in Odense, in this Danish Open which he was also discovering.
But the adventure ended in the semi-finals, where Lanier gave in this Saturday to Koki Watanabe (21-15, 21-13), a better ranked player (13th in the world), more experienced (25 years old) and above all physically cooler. Since entering the fray, the Japanese had played two sets less than the Norman, who drew heavily on his reserves, particularly during his 1h20 quarter-final on Friday evening.
Lanier paid for his efforts and he was clearly no longer the same on the court. He felt pain in his legs, as he felt less of his kicks too. Faced with a player as mobile as Watanabe, solutions quickly ran out. “I feel disconnected”he told his coach Kestutis Navickas after losing the first set. He tried to shorten the exchanges at the start of the second round, but nothing much was responding in his young body.
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