Six meetings were on the program this Monday for the first round of the Open Parc de Lyon (ATP 250). Among these six meetings, three French were involved.
First Arthur Rinderknech (78th) against South African Lloyd Harris (306th) from qualifying. Solid in service, the Frenchman did not give up his commitment for the match, victory in 1h30 (6-4/6-2). He will face the American Brandon Nakashima (52nd) in the second round.
The young 18-year-old Frenchman Arthur Fils (WC) delivered an impeccable performance against the Chinese Zhizhen Zhang, (69th) from qualifying 6-3, 6-2. He will face the Swedish Mikael Ymer (53rd) in the second round, the heartthrob of Richard Gasquet (50th).
The Biterrois was eliminated in two sets by Mikael Ymer (6-3, 7-5). The Swede was quick to take his revenge on Gasquet after his defeat at Primrose last Thursday. Gasquet had nevertheless managed to come back to 5-5 in the second leg before giving in to a 24-year-old player who was only slightly lower ranked than him (53rd).
“It was hot. It was different from last week (in Bordeaux, where he beat Ymer 7-6, 6-3 in a challenger tournament), it was more bouncy. He moved better than me. It was very physical and he made few mistakes. When it’s like that on earth, it’s difficult, it’s a surface that is starting to become harder for me, “commented the Biterrois.
“I didn’t serve well. I got very few free points on my service. He served better than me. He deserves his victory,” added Gasquet, who will be 37 in less than a month.
“The objective was to play matches here in Lyon but I will try to prepare as best I can for Paris. We will see the table, who I will face. It has been difficult on gravel this season, more complicated than on hard. It requires more energy, right-left. I did not do very well and we will try to prepare well for Roland-Garros”, he concluded. Tomorrow, Gael Monfils will enter the competition, he will be opposed to the Argentinian Pedro Cachin ( 63rd).
