Opposed to the talented Spaniard, Martin Landaluce (ATP 143), winner of the US Open in 2022 at 16, Raphaël Collignon, who entered the top 120 (ATP 119) this Monday, lost with a double 6- 3, facing a more constant opponent who is difficult to upset.
Raphaël Collignon’s 2024 ambitions.
“For Raphaël, it was a complicated match against a superb player who already has great maturity despite being 18 years old.explained Steve Darcis, present in Melbourne with the federation players. He started very well, but he played a little sluggishly at 3-3. The Spaniard took advantage and, behind, Raf struggled to finish the set by relaxing in his intensity. It was getting complicated. Landaluce had a lot of balls to play in front of him and Raf was attacked very, very hard. In the second set, he recovered well. He leads 15-40 in the first game, he still has a break point later, but he fails to convert these opportunities. It hurt him mentally to miss out on these opportunities. He held on, but it wasn’t enough. He didn’t have a bad match, despite the defeat, but he didn’t manage to take his chance when it presented itself. And on the other side of the net, his opponent didn’t tremble, while putting in a solid match. It’s a shame, but I think Raf is on the right track for the future. He has to keep hanging on.”
It was therefore from Gauthier Onclin (ATP 236) that the good news of the day came with a victory in three sets (1-6, 6-0, 7-6) against the Argentinian Roman Burruchaga (ATP 152 ) in an alternate one-sided match in the first two rounds.
“Gauthier completely missed the first set before recovering well and producing very good tennis in the second setanalyzes the captain of the Belgian Davis Cup team. The third set was very hot with two players more in the fight. Gauthier experienced a little slack, but he saved a match point before winning the super-tie-break (10-7). The Argentinian gave six points, but Gauthier was solid at this crucial moment of the meeting. He was brave because in his last two matches here in Australia he was down 7-6 in the third. He broke the curse and that will do him a morale boost.”
The Liégeois will face the American Aleksandar Kovacevic, 108th in the world, in the second of the three qualifying rounds.
