If Arthur Cazaux and Benjamin Bonzi continue their journey in Melbourne, this is not the case for Caroline Garcia, beaten during the night session by Naomi Osaka in 3 sets. If the men's table is still well stocked with French players, the women's contingent is bloodless.
Garcia resists but ends up falling against Osaka
At 2-2, Naomi Osaka accelerated and Caroline Garcia remained in his retro. Broken for the first time, the Lyonnaise was unable to overtake the slightly injured Japanese woman. The first set ended with a second break, a blank one at that. Too feverish on his first (53% of points won) and crumbly in his forehand attacks with 7 unforced errors out of his 11 (6-3 in 30 minutes)
In a position of strength, Osaka nevertheless gave up her commitment straight away in the second round. This advantage was confirmed by Garcia who erased a break point. Although pushed to advantages, the Frenchwoman retained her margin. Well positioned on his baseline, Garcia pushed back Osaka, guilty of numerous unforced errors and in dry dock in the first (29% only!). Tactically disjointed, the 2nd set was a carbon copy of the 1st, this time in the opposite direction, with a break from the current 67th in the world to conclude (6-3 in 38 minutes).
The four-time Grand Slam winner seemed close to breaking but she found the resources to break Garcia at 1-1. The now 51st in the WTA let out a cry of relief but her opponent obtained two break points after a winning drop shot. Osaka brushed them aside… before suffering a winning return from Garcia, who entered the court well with her backhand. The Frenchwoman was close to coming back but she conceded the next three points. Trailing 5-3, Garcia was pounded by Osaka who led 0-40. On the second match point, the Japanese won (6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in 1h47). She will face Karolina Muchova (nº20) who punished Nadia Podoroska (6-1, 6-1).
Find the match statistics here
The record in the women's table is disastrous: 4 defeats in 4 matches since the start of the tournament. Because earlier in the day, Leolia Jeanjean was released by the British Jodie Burrage173rd in the world. Coming out of qualifying, the Frenchwoman, ranked 149th in the WTA, was swept away in 2 dry sets (6-2, 6-4) in just 1 hour 14 minutes.
Find the match statistics here
Varvara Gracheva will play her first round on the night of Monday to Tuesday. She is the last Frenchwoman in the table.
Cazaux struggles, Müller disappoints
Led 2 sets to 1 by Sebastian Baezseeded nº28, Arthur Cazaux reversed the trend, in style. During the 4th and 5th rounds, he only let 3 small games escape to win in 3h46 (6-3, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0, 6-3). In 2024, Cazaux had reached the 1/8 finals and he therefore has a lot of points to defend.
-The video summary of the match can be found here
For two sets, Benjamin Bonzi (64th in the world) largely dominated David Goffinten places ahead of him at the ATP. He even broke at 4-4 in the third but, when serving for the match, the Frenchman gave up his serve. Pushed into the deciding game, he needed 5 match points to finally eliminate the Belgian (6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (7) in 2h15).
Find the match statistics here
Arthur Rinderknech pushed Frances Tiafoeseeded nº17, in his corner. While the American won the first two sets, the Frenchman returned the favor to play a decisive round. Alas, Tiafoe broke twice to win in 4h10 (7-6 (2), 6-3, 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-3).
The video summary of the match can be found here
It's a little disappointment: winner of the ATP 250 in Hong Kong last week, Alexandre Müller fell in 4 sets against the Portuguese Nuno Borges. After winning the first set in the deciding game, the Frenchman did not go the distance (6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 in 2h57).
The video summary of the match can be found here
