No farewell with great fanfare in Australia. Richard Gasquet took the door in the first round of qualifying for the Melbourne Open this Monday. The 132nd in the world was opposed to the Croatian Duje Ajdukovic (139th). He gave in in one hour and thirty-seven minutes of play (7-6, 6-3).
After losing in the tie-break in the first set, Gasquet managed to take his opponent's service from the start. A short-lived clearing in a sparse court but made up of experts who did not fail to applaud the Frenchman on his return to the locker room.
The former world number seven plans to end his career next May on the clay at Roland Garros. He could even line up in doubles with his friend Gaël Monfils, who will soon be the last of the Musketeers.
Other French people entered on Monday, Harold Mayot (116th) and Ugo Blanchet (226th) were also eliminated in the first round of qualifying in Melbourne, beaten respectively 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) by the Japanese Yasutaka Uchiyama (147th). ) and 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 by the Czech Dalibor Svrcina.
Qualifying for the first Grand Slam tournament of the season will continue until Thursday, before the main draw begins on Sunday.
