Aurélien Canot, Media365, published on Monday January 13, 2025 at 12:46 p.m.
Impressive this Monday against David Goffin (6-1, 6-2, 7-6), whom he had never beaten before, for his debut in the Australian Open, Benjamin Bonzi, like Arthur Cazaux a little earlier, won the right to continue the adventure in Melbourne, where the lucky Italian loser Passaro (104th) awaits him in the next round.
Until now, the name of David Goffin only evoked defeats for Benjamin Bonzi, beaten during his three confrontations with the Belgian. The Gardois had been waiting a long time for a first victory against one of his pet peeves on the circuit. She intervened at an excellent time, since on Monday she allowed Lionel Zimbler’s colt to return to the 2nd round in Melbourne a year after having won the cup against Lorenzo Musetti from the start. Bonzi was not content to unlock his counter and ward off fate against the former member of the Top 10, now 54th in the ranking. He put him through the mill for two sets before dominating him again, in the third, certainly much more competitive, to finally be rewarded with his very good match in three sets (6-1, 6-2, 7-6 ) after a little over two hours of play (2h12). The winner of the Metz tournament (his first title on the circuit) at the end of last season, on a big day, made a very strong impression against a Goffin who was long unable to counter the aggressiveness of the Frenchman. Bonzi, perhaps caught up by the inevitable tension when concluding a match but probably especially by the scenario of two of his defeats against Goffin, in Montpellier, where the Belgian had knocked him down both times while he seemed to be holding his victory, had more difficulty manhandling his 34-year-old opponent in the last round. His two consecutive errors (which had practically not happened to him in the match) at 5-4 while the 64th in the ranking was used to win the match allowed the former world number 7 to believe in it again. But not for long.
Bonzi was waiting for Dimitrov, it will be… Passaro
Despite three match points saved in the decisive game that followed, “La Bonz” once again laid down the law (9-7), showering a beleaguered Goffin with blows, each one more powerful than the other, before closing the game. match on a heroic defense. A happiness that never comes alone, the second French qualifier of the day after Arthur Cazaux learned after his victory that he would not face the formidable Grigor Dimitrov, forced to retire against Francesco Passaro, but the lucky Italian loser of 24 years ranked 104th in the world and who had already taken advantage of Fabio Fognini’s last minute package to join the big picture. Perhaps a new sign of destiny for someone who had experienced a lot of similar boosts since the start of the year (Editor’s note: Bonzi had benefited from the abandonment of Andreev in Brisbane and that of Fognini in Adelaide but also the withdrawal of Jiri Lehecka in the same Adelaide tournament). History may be in the making for the French number 7, whose picture has suddenly taken another turn. It’s up to him to take advantage of it now.
