There were eight on the starting line for this 3rd round of qualifying in Roehampton, there will be four in the big Wimbledon draw. The French did well in general this Thursday, knowing that two matches pitted them against each other, so they could have been at six at most. The four lucky winners are Lucas Pouille, Hugo Gaston, Quentin Halys and Maxime Janvier. On the other hand, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Luca Van Assche, Richard Gasquet and Hugo Grenier stumbled on the last step.
The younger generation suffered in particular against their elders in the 100% tricolor duels. Mpetshi Perricard and Van Assche thus lost respectively to Maxime Janvier (6-7, 7-5, 7-6, 7-6) in 2 hours 40 minutes of play and Lucas Pouille (7-6, 7-5, 6-2) in 2h20. As for Hugo Gaston and Quentin Halys, they were solid respectively against the Kazakhstanis Mikhail Kukushkin (6-2, 1-6, 7-5, 6-1) and Beibit Zhukayev (6-3, 6-4, 6-4 ). Gasquet fell to the Czech Vit Kropiva, 123rd in the world, in four sets despite a good start (3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4). Hugo Grenier finally could not resist the South African Lloyd Harris (6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6).
Note that Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard being seeded 1 in these qualifications, he will be first in line in the event of a withdrawal in the big draw to be drafted. The uncertainties surrounding the cases of Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic could particularly benefit him.
