Leading two sets to zero, Gaston (23) was once a break behind in the fourth set (3-1) but was able to avoid getting carried away into a perilous fifth set. He won in just under three hours. The Toulouse left-hander, 97th in the world, will now challenge world No.12 Taylor Fritz, who however experienced a new scare in the first round with an ankle, his known point of weakness.
Gaston is the second French player to reach the second round in Melbourne after Quentin Halys. Opposed to the young Italian Lorenzo Musetti, 28th in the world, Benjamin Bonzi (106th) lost from the start 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-2 after almost three hours and a half match. Like Constant Lestienne (99th) against the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich (24th), victorious 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5). World No.3 Daniil Medvedev let the first set slip away against Terence Atmane (144th) in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday, before benefiting from the abandonment of the French qualifier in the fourth set, caught by cramps. Medvedev, who was playing his very first match of the 2024 season, finally won 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 1-0 in just over two and a half hours.
Before that, the former world No. 1 was surprised by the 22-year-old Frenchman in the first set, after having led 5 games to 3. But after less than two hours of the match, at the start of the third set (at 1-1), Atmane was brutally attacked by leg cramps and found himself unable to serve, except with a spoon, and to play. In the second round, the double finalist of the Australian Open (2021 and 2022) will face the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori (53rd).
