the essential
Beaten from the start in Canberra and Adelaide before starting the Australian Open, the Toulouse native (76th in the world, 24 years old) will have to be more offensive to hope to reach a level, according to his coach, Younes El Aynaoui.
Younes El Aynaoui did not invent anything and the lines which follow had already transpired from the words of Marc Barbier from the long time when he took care of Hugo Gaston. Except that the years pass and the feeling of urgency begins to emerge with a view to big ambitions. The Moroccan coach sets the scene: “Hugo has generally been established for 2-3 years between 50th and 100th place in the world.”
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However, he still sometimes comes out of it due to lack of consistency, his big tournaments last year being able to be counted on one hand (final in Kitzbühel, semi in Antwerp and quarter in Lyon in ATP 250; success in Lyon in Challenger). Younes El Aynaoui continues: “As Hugo does not have a big shot, and is often threatened on his serve, he spends a lot of energy to have big weeks, to defend, to counter, to sometimes play far from his line. He leaves a lot of strength there and that prevents him from reaching the Top 30 or better, this requires essential changes.
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Fabrice Santoro, the model to follow
With his talent, his hand, his creativity, Hugo Gaston can still have several seasons at his current level, making holes in the tables a few times a year while also flooding the canvas with incredible points to maintain his legend as a player. leaves. His coach is rather campaigning for a revolution: “Fabrice Santoro was capable of a metamorphosis in the middle of his career. He was only doing rounds, he became an attacker to reach the Top 20 (17th). I would like Hugo to do so. inspires, wins the points in two-three shots, coming towards the net We work a lot tactically on this these days.
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While he now has a base in Paris, Hugo Gaston carried out his preparation on the federal courts of the CNE near Roland-Garros and has employed a full-time physical trainer, Hicham Messadia, ” who for a time collaborated with Caroline Garcia”, says El Aynaoui. His staff is in place, the rest is up to him: “Hugo often loses against guys who hit hard, take a lot of risks, this happened again last week in Canberra against Watanuki (374th). saddened. This must trigger a change in him, move him away from his comfort automatisms. He would have to be able to forget the ranking for a few months, accept playing less well in order to master this new style. by trying instead that he gives a neutral ball to be lit behind.”
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At this level, where comfort is fragile, the circuit is cruel and a spiral of defeats automatically leads to a decline in the rankings and closes the door to important tournaments. Hugo Gaston will have to find a balance between everyday life and projection to dream bigger. In the meantime, he convinced Younes El Aynaoui of his investment: “I knew guys like Pioline, Bruguera and Sampras who didn’t force a lot in sessions but were always at full strength in matches. Hugo is a bit the same. I understood that he still wanted to, that he wasn’t cheating.”
