Just before starting the US Open, some players have the opportunity to seek confidence and precious points from the side of the ATP 250 of Winston-Salem, the last meeting before the ultimate Grand Slam of the season.
If Gaël Monfils or the defending champion and French number 1 Adrian Mannarino have chosen not to participate, seven other tricolors are part of the table.
Quentin Halys (69th) was the first Frenchman to enter the track against the Argentinian Facundo Diaz Acosta (93rd). The native of Bondy took the first set before seeing his opponent return to the match and conclude in 2h11: 4-6.6-2.6-4. Third consecutive defeat for Quentin Halys who has not won since Wimbledon.
The second and third French of the day hardly raised the level. Opposed to the German Dominik Koepfer (78th), Constant Lestienne (103rd) lost after a long fight of almost 2h40. The 31-year-old tricolor does not continue after his great victory at the Stanford challenger last week. Not better either for Arthur Rinderknech (73rd), initially opposed to Dominic Thiem for a revenge after his defeat in Kitzbühel, but the Austrian had to give up due to illness. It was therefore the young American Omni Kumar (385th) who found himself facing the 1m96 Frenchman in the first round, a victory in two sets for Kumar in 1h36: 6-3.7-6.
The 19-year-old nugget, Luca Van Assche (65th) is the first Frenchman to qualify. The 65th player in the world defeated local Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (477th) not without difficulty, a victory in just under 2 hours: 3-6.6-3.6-2. He will face Australian Aleksandar Vukic (51st) in the next round.
Finally Richard Gasquet (57th) last French driver of the day had fun on the Winston-Salem court. At 37, one of the last two survivors of the four Musketeers negotiated his match well against the Swiss Marc Huesler (87th) to snatch victory in 1h45: 6-4,6-4. He could be opposed to his compatriot Arthur Fils (48th) in the next round if the latter defeats Brandon Nakashima (72nd).
Other Winston-Salem ATP Tournament results:
1st round (men’s singles):
Rinky Hijikata (AUS) bat Illya Marchenko (UKR) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
Michael Mmoh (USA) bat Darian King (BAR) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
Mitchell Krueger (USA) beat Pavel Kotov (RUS) 6-3, 6-4
Max Purcell (AUS) bats Marco Cecchinato (ITA) 6-4, 6-1
Jack Draper (GBR) beats Nuno Borges (POR) 6-3, 6-1
2nd round (men’s singles):
Sebastián Báez (ARG/N.6) bat Daniel Galán (COL) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
Márton Fucsovics (HUN/N.14) beat Zhang Zhizhen (CHN) 6-4, 6-2
