Bitter revenge for French No.1 Ugo Humbert (14th in the world): three months after his defeat in the final of the Tokyo tournament against his compatriot Arthur Fils (21st), Messin beat him by retirement, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 1-0, in the 3rd round of the Australian Open.
For three sets, the clash between the two best tricolors on the circuit kept all its promises.
But at 2 sets to 1 in favor of Humbert, Arthur Fils had his left foot massaged for a long time.
A few minutes later, after being broken with abnormal ease compared to the intensity of the duel, Son threw in the towel.
The Ile-de-France native then explained that he had hurt his ankle in the second round in Melbourne.
“We decided to 'strap' to hold the ankle. The only problem is that I haven't always tolerated straps. And we made a strap that tightened me a little too much and as the match progressed , the more my foot hurt,” he explained at a press conference.
“It's not a big injury but it's annoying, especially since I think we played well. It was a good match, it was fun, we were on a big court, it was cool… Ending like that is hard,” regretted Fils.
– “Do better” against Zverev –
“It's not the way I wanted to win,” agreed Humbert, well back in the game after losing the first set and having himself received a massage (on his right shoulder) earlier in the match .
“I hurt myself on a serve, I felt that something had moved,” Humbert said at a press conference.
After having a massage, “as the games went on, things got better and better, and frankly it's okay, I'm not that worried,” he reassured.
“We played a great match,” added the 26-year-old left-hander, who thanks to his reunion victory with world No. 2 Alexander Zverev in the round of 16, two months after being swept away by the German in the final of the Masters-1000 of Paris.
-“I took a double 6-2 in front of my audience” at Bercy, recalled Humbert. “But I will try to do better this time,” he promised the spectators at John Cain Arena.
“It’s not going to be easy but I’m ready for this new challenge,” assured the French No.1, “proud” to reach the second week, for the first time in his career in Australia.
– Bonzi beaten and “disappointed” –
Facing him stands Zverev, still in search of a first Grand Slam title at 27, who has had three victories in three sets since the start of the tournament and leads 2-1 in his duels with Humbert on the ATP circuit.
The Frenchman's only victory dates back to 2021, in three sets on the lawn of Halle. In the event of further success, he would play his first Grand Slam quarter-final.
In addition to Son's injury, the French evening in Melbourne was also overshadowed by the elimination in three sets of Benjamin Bonzi, beaten 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 by the Czech Jiri Lehecka (29th).
“It's a bit of a hard feeling (…) because I have the impression of not having had much fun even though it's a third round of a Grand Slam,” regretted the man who won his first ATP tournament in Metz in November.
“Beyond the result and the defeat, I am disappointed with what I produced on the pitch,” he added.
Two French people can, however, still reach the round of 16 on Saturday, even if the task will be difficult for Gaël Monfils (41st) against world No.4 Taylor Fritz.
Corentin Moutet (69th) will challenge the young American Learner Tien (121st), who defeated three-time Australian Open finalist Daniil Medvedev (5th) in the previous round.
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