No one will blame us for deciding to stop believing in French tennis until further notice to preserve our mental health. Especially not after watching Wednesday’s day at the US Open go by. The first round looked promising, the second was a real disaster.
Of the seven French players entered at Flushing Meadows, none made it through. Gaël Monfils sealed this dark day by losing to Casper Ruuud in four sets 6-4, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7/3). With the world’s 8th player in front, it was hard to hope for better anyway.
Humbert overcome by the heat (and 108th in the world)
For Ugo Humbert, it’s something else. The Frenchman, who is still awaiting a breakthrough in major tournaments, was up against world number 108 Francisco Comesana. He started his match well by winning the first set and then collapsed 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
“I felt like it was 40°C on the court and then with the humidity you feel like you’re losing a lot of water, and then you have the heat hitting you, you feel like you don’t have any more energy pretty quickly, justified Humbert. As I wasn’t well, I had a stomach ache, I didn’t eat anything, I felt like I had played for three hours after 30 minutes.”
No second comeback for Clara Burel
Stunning in the first round against the American Sloane Stephens, who won the title at Flushing Meadows in 2017, Clara Burel (56th) was once again scheduled for a night session on Wednesday against a big name in tennis, the double Major winner Victoria Azarenka (20th), without experiencing the same success.
Burel (23 years old) was dominated 6-1, 6-4 by the Belarusian, who nevertheless appeared to be in great physical difficulty during the 2nd set, suffering from migraines, a chronic illness for her, she indicated afterwards. As such, health problems do not always explain everything.
Diane Parry, world number 60, was also soundly beaten by the Chinese Yafan Wang (80th) 6-0, 6-4, who will meet Azarenka in the third round. In a parallel universe, there is a French-French duel Parry-Burel instead.
Rinderknech’s regrets against Rublev
Arthur Rinderknech could have left with his head held high after leading two sets to zero against Andrey Rublev. He finally preferred to give in in five sets and 4h06 of play against the Russian, who is not the most stable man on the circuit. And this time, Arthur did not need to break his ankle to sabotage himself. Defeat 4-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
The Frenchman, who had already played five sets to get through the first round against the American Christopher Eubanks, took advantage of Rublev’s difficulties in serving (54% of first serves), before falling to a more solid player.
Alexandre Müller (77th) also faced a member of the Top 10, the German Alexander Zverev (4th), finalist at Roland-Garros this year, and in New York in 2020. He did not disgrace himself until losing the tie-break of the second set, for a final defeat 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1. Arthur Cazaux, 91st in the world, was soundly beaten by the American Brandon Nakashima (50th) 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
On Thursday, the last hopes of French tennis are called Jessika Ponchet and Arthur Fils. It smells (already) like the end.
