Aurélie Sacchelli, Media365, published on Thursday November 21, 2024 at 2:37 p.m.
After qualifying for the semi-finals of the WTT Finals in Fukuoka in doubles with his brother (they will face the French pair Dorr/Bourrassaud), Alexis Lebrun lost in the round of 16 of the singles tournament to No. 2 world, the Chinese Lin.
Despite their magnificent year 2024, neither Félix nor Alexis Lebrun managed to reach the quarter-finals of the WTT Finals in Fukuoka, the last tournament of the season. After Felix on Wednesday (fallen in five sets against the German Duda), it was Alexis who fell in the round of 16 this Thursday. Opposed to the Chinese Shidong Lin, world n°2, the Frenchman (n°14) lost in four rounds and 30 minutes of play. Even if the Chinese started favorite given his ranking, Lebrun had the psychological advantage of having beaten him during their last confrontation, at the end of May in China. But that wasn't enough: Lin won 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4. Building on the momentum of his doubles victory with his brother a few hours earlier, the eldest Lebrun started the match strong by winning the first set 11-8 thanks to a formidable finish (Lin had held until 7-7) . He then led 5-3 in the second, but his opponent ended up waking up. Lin tied it at 5-5 then stormed back in the set to win it by four points. In the third, Lebrun held until 3-3 but was then still trailing, and in the fourth, the Chinese started with a 5-0 and easily won against the Frenchman, who no longer believed in it . It is therefore he who will face the German Qiu for a place in the last four.
The rise of Dorr/Bourrassaud
However, Alexis Lebrun's Japanese week is not yet over, far from it, because he will have a 100% French semi-final to play with his brother against Esteban Dorr and Florian Bourrassaud. The world n°11s beat the n°19s, the Hong Kongers Kwan Kit Ho and Siu Hang Lam after a nice 46-minute fight won in five sets: 9-11, 8-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-6. The Montpellier and the Roannais, both aged 24, started this match badly (they were led 5-1 in the first two sets) but recovered magnificently, winning the last three sets after finding themselves at two points from defeat at 10-10 in the fourth set. On Friday, they will be entitled to a dream semi-final against their illustrious compatriots, current world number 2 in doubles.
