Arthur Rinderknech did not have the best possible memories of Paris when he appeared on Monday in the first round of the Rolex Paris Masters.
The Frenchman was forced to retire in the second round of Roland-Garros on May 30, after injuring his foot by punching an advertising board on the edge of court no. 7 in anger.
Five months later, he is back in the French capital in much better spirits. Invited by the organizers, the 60th player in the world had a superb start to the tournament.
If he benefited in the first round from the injury (leg) of Tomas Machac which he pushed to his limits, he obtained his ticket for the round of 16 in style this Wednesday.
Rinderknech showed himself to be very, very solid to emerge victorious from a very big fight against the great American hope Alex Michelsen. The two men went blow for blow and the Frenchman ended up winning in a little over two hours, two sets, and as many tie-breaks (7-6[6]7-6[7]).
The Varois’ joy was intense at the end of the match and he took the time to celebrate his victory with the French supporters present on court no. 2, who did not stop encouraging him (see video under the ‘article).
In the round of 16, Rinderknech will once again have a lot to do since Grigor Dimitrov, world No. 9 and last year’s finalist, will stand in his way.
