Only four French players out of the seventeen entered in the men’s table have crossed the first round of Roland Garros. The last time this happened was 20 years ago.
The French are completely missing out on this 2020 edition of the Roland-Garros tournament. As one might unfortunately expect, the third day of the French Open looked exactly like the previous one. Because they were simply not up to par or sometimes for very different reasons, Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet, Grégoire Barrère, Quentin Halys, Ugo Humbert and Harold Mayot all fell on the ocher earth of Porte d’Auteuil. , this Tuesday.
For men, the balance sheet of the first round can therefore be carried out. And he’s scary. There are only four French people left in the running in this third Grand Slam lift, certainly very special because of the context linked to the health crisis surrounding the event. But the coronavirus does not explain everything. Richard Gasquet, at the height of his 34 years and his 17 participations in this tournament, showed all his limits on the physical level against a player of the caliber of Bautista-Agut.
Cruel fates and frank disappointments
Anyway, this is the worst result of the Open era (since 1968) with the 2000 edition, won by “Guga” Kuerten. 20 years ago, only Fabrice Santoro, Arnaud Clément, Cédric Pioline and Sébastien Grosjean had crossed the first hurdle. This 2020 edition, contested without popular support, promised to be complicated with the packages of Lucas Pouille and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, injured, and only two seeds (Gaël Monfils and Benoît Paire).
There are frank disappointments with the exit from the road of Ugo Humbert, who remained on the most beautiful victory of his career in Hamburg against the 5th player in the world, Daniil Medvedev, and seemed to have finally tamed this surface which he so loathed in her youth. There was also a cruel lack of success for some, Quentin Halys in particular, who got a match point. Corentin Moutet, during his marathon against the Italian Lorenzo Giustino, passed two points from victory.
Avoid the zero point on the third lap
Never since 1968 has French tennis been absent from the round of 16. Suffice to say that Benoît Paire, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Benjamin Bonzi and Hugo Gaston will have a little pressure this Wednesday in front of the empty stands. Only the Avignon, seeded No. 23, will start favorite against the Argentinian Federica Coria.
