Sander Gillé (ATP-D37) beamed with joy on Saturday evening in Melbourne after advancing, for the first time in his career, to the third round of the men’s doubles at the Australian Open. Alongside his new teammate, the Pole Jan Zielinski (ATP-D25), the 33-year-old player from Limburg managed to defeat the team formed by the French Grégoire Jacq (ATP-D64) and the Brazilian Orlando Luz (ATP-D66) with a score of 7-6 (7/2), 4-6, 6-3.
A memorable journey
« I am really satisfied with the level and the courage we showed“, he told Belga after their success. “ I also feel great pride in reaching the third round for the first time here in Melbourne. This is my best performance in six years. We didn’t know much about our opponents. Furthermore, they had changed their position in return compared to the preparatory tournaments in Brisbane and Adelaide. With nothing to lose, they played very loosely. Luz is formidable and Jacq shows great finesse. So it was not an easy task, but the communication with Jan was excellent, which allowed us to surpass ourselves.«
Sander Gillé, often stopped in the first round during the previous four years when he played with Joran Vliegenhad never made it past the second round in Melbourne. For the rest, he will face the Germans on Monday Kevin Krawietz (ATP-D9) et Tim Puetz (ATP-D10), who were finalists at the US Open and who won the ATP Finals, the masters tournament, last year. “ This challenge will not be easy“, he clarified. “ They are very confident thanks to their victory at the Masters and their recent final in Adelaide. They are an extremely sturdy and dominating pair when leading in the game. It will be crucial to start strong to put them in trouble. We will prepare rigorously on the tactical level and we firmly believe that we have the means to surprise them.«
Belgium
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