How far away the Hugo Gaston who had raised the crowds at the gates of Auteuil and kept more than 5 million viewers spellbound. One evening in autumn 2020 in a very special Roland-Garros postponed to the end of September because of the Covid-19, a kid who came out of nowhere warmed up the partially filled stands and stopped time with a cushioning subtly placed at the foot fillet.
Before the fortnight of 2020, no one really knew the 20-year-old left-hander at 73 meters and divine ball touch. However, from the age of 16 (in 2017), Hugo Gaston made a name for himself on the circuit by winning the Orange Bowl, in Florida, a tournament considered a Major among juniors, since on the list of winners of this Here is the Swiss legend Roger Federer (1998), the former world number 1 Andy Roddick (1999) or even Dominic Thiem (2011). In 2018, he proudly wears the French colors by winning gold at the Youth Olympic Games in Argentina. And two years later, here he is in the big leagues where he will offer his first victories at Roland.
239th in the world at the start of the tournament, the 20-year-old Toulousain had received an invitation to the main draw to play his first Fortnight. Fallen by his compatriot Maxime Janvier in the first round (7-6/6-4/6-3) and the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka in the second (6-4/7-6/3-6/6-2), it is in the third round that the tricolor fully caught the public eye. Opposed to the Swiss Stan Wawrinka, winner in particular of the Parisian Grand Slam in 2015 but also of the Australian Open 2014 and the US Open 2016, during this meeting, Hugo Gaston will use his atypical game to overcome his opponent in 3:15 (2-6/6-3/6-3/4-6/6-0), on the menu: bulging forehands, jumping backhands, amortized festival, lobs, slices, soft strikes and balls in Bell. With this victory, the one we began to call the “little prince” of French tennis reached the round of 16 and was the last tricolor in the running.
On October 4, 2020, Hugo Gaston was very close to achieving one of the greatest feats in the history of the tournament. The Toulousain came back from hell to offer himself a decisive fifth set against the ogre Dominic Thiem (ex 3rd in the world, winner of the US Open and double finalist at Roland), the Austrian bit the ocher 58 times in 50 games against the amortized so well mastered by the French. “It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen a player with such a touchdown. His drop shots come from another planet” revealed the Austrian. The kid finally bowed in honors in 5 sets after 3:32: (4-6 / 4-6 / 7-5 / 6-3 / 3-6) in front of 5.6 million viewers. A match of legend with an exit under the ovation of the central court that the young Frenchman will never forget, a farewell to Chatrier which surely means tomorrow.
With such enthusiasm and such performances, Hugo Gaston has truly changed its media dimension, the public was impatiently awaiting the confirmation of their new hero, but as often, the hardest part is the aftermath: “There was a runaway more or less unexpectedly, Hugo was solicited from all sides. It was very strong and it shook him a lot. We had to digest that, ”confided to Le Figaro his former coach, Marc Barbier. Precisely, the following year, Gaston failed in the Grand Slam, eliminated in qualifying for the Australian Open, Wimbledon, the US Open and released in the first round of Roland Garros against Richard Gasquet.
It was during another major French tournament (Paris Bercy) at the end of the year that Gaston rediscovered the magic of his atypical game and the cries of the public. In tribute to Toulon singer Gilbert Bécaud, Hugo Gaston is coming back to pick us up. After qualifying, he reached the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters 1000 after beating Carreno Busta (6-7/6-4/7-5) and disgusting the future world number 1 Carlos Alcaraz (6-4/7-5 ) at the end of a crazy match. Thanks to this victory, Gaston will reach the Top 100 for the first time in his career and will have won back the hearts of the French. The tricolor explained his successes: “I think my game annoys a lot of players, they don’t necessarily know me, so they don’t really know how to play me”.
After the months and years, the circuit got to know the atypical game of the little Frenchman, the euphoria of the first times is over, 2022 is much more complicated. Despite an ounce of superb found at Roland-Garros and a first Challenger title in Roanne, the Toulousain was too irregular and heavily penalized by an often faulty service as testified by Daniil Medvedev after his victory against the French at Paris Bercy in 2021: ” What saved me was his serve, otherwise Gaston would already be Top 10. Terrible disappointment, with an elimination in the first round of qualifying at Bercy against the Swiss Marc Huesler (3-6/6-3/6-7), Gaston descends beyond 130th place at ATP.
This year, Hugo Gaston will have been talked about more for his acts of anti-game than for his sports performance. A few days ago, we learned that the current 108th player in the world was going to receive an astronomical fine of 144,000 euros after having voluntarily dropped a ball on the course of Madrid in a key moment with the hope of distracting his opponent and replay the point. With “only” 114,218 euros collected thanks to tournaments this season, the fine was going to hurt the finances of the tricolor. Fortunately, pending, the penalty has been reduced to 72,000 euros if the young player stands wisely for a year. Roland-Garros should be good for the wallet, directly qualified for the final table thanks to several packages, Hugo Gaston is sure to pocket at least 69,000 euros.
The Toulousain will enter the competition this Sunday for his fourth Roland-Garros, his first with his new coach Younès El Aynaoui. He will face the Slovak Alex Molcan (83rd), a match far from being won since Hugo Gaston remains on an abandonment at the Challenger de Oeiras on the Portuguese side. His first match will serve as the first test before maybe a big fight against Alexander Zverev in the second round.
