Alexis Lebrun qualified for the round of 16 of the WTT Champions in Montpellier by winning 3-1 against the 46th in the world, the Portuguese Marcos Freitas, Wednesday October 23.
The very recent European champion successfully entered the fray, at home in Montpellier, for the first WTT tournament in history in France, in a Sud de France Arena in cauldron mode on Wednesday evening.
Thanks to great patience in the face of Freitas wanting to break the game several times by taking (much too much) time between each serve, Alexis Lebrun obtained his ticket for the round of 16 of the competition thanks to a 3-1 success (12 -10, 9-11, 13-11, 11-9). In the next round, he will face the winner of the match between Darko Jorgic and Truls Moregard.
“Before entering the room I was really tired”
Alexis Lebrun, 16th in the world and qualified in 8th: “He's always caused me a lot of problems so I'm really happy to have gotten out of it. Saving time is not so much his fault, I don't blame him, it's normal for him has a very slow pace and I very fast So it creates problems, it's not the first time that this happens.
For him I play too fast for me he plays too long. In my opinion, referees must respect the people who come to see ping and not see someone wiping their hand and taking their napkin. The referees are supposed to help the game speed up, today they didn't do that, I find it hard to understand.
It was difficult to continue after the European title, before entering the gym I was really tired, I wasn't at my best. I got a little handjob from Esteban Dorr during the warm-up (laughs). Entering the room immediately gave me energy and I was able to play at a very good level.”
Nathanaël Molin, coach of Alexis Lebrun: “Frankly, it was a great match, because we played against a player who is not playing fair at all. It was unbearable the whole match. After a while, I couldn't holding me back, it was ten times, it's good. His only thing was to try to spoil the match, it's disgusting. Stop being small and play your game, play your match, stop doing it. cinema… It was a pain in the ass.
So even more congratulations to Alex, because he held his match well. That's good, because he actually penalized himself. He called the referee and from there, I think we had a slightly more normal match. Because before, frankly, it was nonsense.
He does this against Alex all the time, he's known for it. It's boring. Afterwards, he's a great player. I'm not taking away his track record and the strength he has. But frankly, it's disgusting. You have to deal with it, that's how it is.
I'm telling myself this straight away but in five minutes I'll be telling myself that being European champion, having won a medal at the Games and being able to take that on at home… Hats off, that's it. At 21, it’s monstrous what he’s doing.”
