Frenchman Hugo Gaston retired in the second round of the Australian Open against Czech Jiri Lehecka (6-3, 3-1) this Wednesday. In the other meetings, Carlos Alcaraz played while the finalist of the 2024 edition, Zheng Qinwen, took the door.
The Frenchman Hugo Gaston, 81st player in the world, left the Australian Open on Wednesday due to retirement, while he was led one set to zero by the Czech Jiri Lehecka (29th) in the 2nd round. Falling in the first round against the Australian Omar Jasika, whom he had dominated in four sets, Gaston threw in the towel while Lehecka won the first set 6-3 and led 3-1 in the second act.
Abdominal injury
The 24-year-old from Toulouse explained at a press conference that his abandonment was linked to an abdominal injury. He does not know at this stage how long his injury will keep him away from the courts. The Frenchman was one of six Frenchmen entered on Wednesday in Melbourne, alongside Ugo Humbert (14th), Arthur Fils (21st), Benjamin Bonzi (64th), Quentin Halys (74th) and Arthur Cazaux (108th). In 2024, Gaston also stopped in the 2nd round in Melbourne, beaten by the American Taylor Fritz.
Among the other matches of the night, world No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz, seeking in Melbourne the only Grand Slam title missing from his record, swept aside the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka (65th) in the 2nd round. The 21-year-old Spaniard, four-time winner of major tournaments, won 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 in just over 1 hour 20 minutes, signing a second victory in three sets in a row after an entry in material already expeditious against the Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko (77th).
Alcaraz will face for a place in the round of 16 the Australian Jordan Thompson (27th) or the Portuguese Nuno Borges (33rd), whose match was in progress on Wednesday at the time of the Spaniard's victory. If he wins in Melbourne, where his best result is a quarter-final in 2024, Alcaraz will become the youngest player in history to win all four Grand Slam tournaments (Australian Open, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and US Open).
-In the women's draw, a first shock elimination occurred: the Chinese Zheng Qinwen, finalist in Melbourne in 2024, lost on Wednesday in the 2nd round against the German Laura Siegemund. Fifth player in the world, the 22-year-old Olympic champion was beaten 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 by her opponent (97th), who will face in the 3rd round the Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (32nd) or her compatriot Anastasia Potapova ( 36th).
“I had nothing to lose. I know I can play well and I just wanted to prove it to myself,” Siegemund exulted immediately after his victory. “I tried to be extremely aggressive, not try any improbable shots and instead stick to my game plan,” she added.
Defeated after a 2h15 fight, Zheng Qinwen played the first tournament of her 2025 season in Melbourne. In 2024, the year in which she revealed herself, the Chinese was eliminated in the third round of Roland-Garros, in the first round of Wimbledon and in the quarter-finals at the US Open. She came very close to victory at the WTA Finals in November, narrowly beaten by the American Coco Gauff after a battle of almost four hours.
