Hugo Gaston qualified for the second round of the Antwerp tournament by defeating Russian Vatutin in straight sets. On the other hand, Luca Van Assche did not exist against Roberto Bautista Agut.
Five French people are competing in the ATP 250 tournament in Antwerp this week, and after Richard Gasquet on Monday, Luca Van Assche also left in the first round. Coming from the qualifications, the 119th player in the world was opposed to the 60th, Roberto Bautista Agut. And there was no photo: the Spaniard won 6-2, 6-1 in 1h13! For his very first match against “RBA”, the 20-year-old was unable to find the fault on his opponent’s serve, despite three opportunities. Van Assche held until 2-2 in the first set, before being broken at 2-3 after a long game. He then got two break points but missed them, and again lost his service at 5-2 to conclude this generally unsuccessful first set. And the second one turned out to be even worse.
Van Assche this time held until 1-1, before losing five games in a row, including three shutouts, conceding two breaks conceded on two occasions. A match to forget for the young Frenchman, who is having a difficult season on the ATP circuit, where he has never won two matches in a row. He will also return to the Challenger circuit next week, near Brest.
Gaston breaks his losing streak
On the other hand, the good news came from Hugo Gaston, 77th in the world, who qualified for the second round by defeating the Russian qualifier Alexey Vatutin. Finally a victory for the Toulouse player, who had not won a match since his semi-final on the clay of Kitzbühel on July 26! The Toulouse man had to fight for three sets, but he ended up winning 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in 1h49. He was notably able to rely on his serve, with seven aces on the clock, for no double faults. Gaston lost the first set by conceding his faceoff at 2-2 and 5-3, but he recovered very well by breaking at the start of the second set, then at 5-3 to equalize at a set all. The last round was only a formality for the Toulouse player, who quickly led 5-0, before winning at 5-3 on his first match point, thus ending his series of seven defeats.
In the next round, Gaston will face Argentinian Mariano Navone, 43rd in the world. Also note this Tuesday the qualification of the No. 5 seed Jiri Lehecka (6-1, 6-4 against Jaume Munar) and that of the No. 8 seed, Marcos Giron (6-4, 6-1 against Botic van de Zandschulp). Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Arthur Rindernech will be the other two French people in the running on Tuesday.
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