This first day offered two matches in the men’s draw. And this Friday, six Grand Slam titles (5 for Herbert in doubles, 1 for Thiem) graced the Bourcain court. The anticipated meeting between Yanis Ghazouani-Durand, local to the competition, and Dominic Thiem, winner of the US Open in 2020, kept all its promises. And Bourcain created a sensation by dominating, in two sets (6-2, 6-4), the Austrian, who struggled to remain consistent during the meeting, unlike the Frenchman, aggressive for 1h15, and who was able to do with a rounded back after being broken at the start of the second round, to break at 7e game. “My game plan was not to ask myself any questions, to play like in training. When it happens like that, we can’t dream of better,” describes the one who will be opposed to Herbert or Bautista Agut on Sunday.
In front of a Vercors complex committed to his cause, Ghazouani-Durand therefore offers himself the greatest victory of his career. “It’s weird, everything that’s happening is something incredible. Players with a career I might no longer meet. Signing autographs, taking photos, it’s a life that I don’t normally experience,” he rejoices.
Gasquet too short physically
As the curtain rose, Richard Gasquet and Pierre-Hugues Herbert challenged each other in a Franco-French duel. In a closer encounter, the two protagonists put on a show, notably with long-line backhands from Gasquet, a move for which he has the secret. But the five-time Grand Slam doubles winner notably benefited from the more numerous unforced errors of the Biterrois, physically declining in the third act, and who logically bowed (3-6, 6-4, 1-6).
“I arrived with good feelings. I’m pretty happy with my match in general, I had a game that didn’t go well in the second, but overall I was pretty good in the important points, I’m happy with my match », Analyzes Herbert, who will face Bautista Agut in the semi-final this Saturday. Still in the preparation phase for the new season, which will begin in Australia, the 33-year-old tennis player feels “pretty good” physically, even if he has “not finished” his pre-season.
Richard Gasquet leaves the table and continues his tour of France, at the dawn of his last season in the Open era.
