The beautiful story! First tournament on the main circuit, first match in five sets, first duel with a member of the top 20 and… first victory: Titouan Droguet, 171st in the world who had never played a match on the main ATP circuit before, dominated the Italian Lorenzo Musetti (20th) to climb to the second round of the US Open after going through the qualifications. At 22, Droguet dismissed Musetti 6-3, 0-6, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-2 in 3:40. Like incredulous, he first let himself fall on his back, shook his opponent’s hand and then let out a huge cry of deliverance.
Arriving in New York, the Frenchman, who usually plays on the Challenger circuit (2nd division), had $119,000 in tournament winnings since his professional debut in 2018, including $3,700 from the Meerbusch semi-final, his last tournament before the US Open. Just playing the second round of the main draw in New York will net him $123,000. He will try to do even better and reach the third round by facing the Czech Jakub Mensik (206th) on Wednesday, also from qualifying and who beat another Frenchman, Grégoire Barrère (59th).
Adrian Mannarino, the most consistent Frenchman this season, lost a set but dismissed the Japanese Yosuke Watanuki (85th), 7-5, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 7-5. The 35th in the world, who feels “rather in shape”, had to face a very aggressive player, a big server, who tried to speed up the exchange at the slightest opportunity, even if it meant committing a whopping 64 unforced errors. “I like to play a lot of rallies to find my rhythm, find my feelings,” he explained. “And there, he really tried from start to finish (…) I didn’t really feel like I had control and it wasn’t necessarily pleasant”. In the second round, he will face the Hungarian Fabian Marozsan (92nd), winner of Richard Gasquet. Benjamin Bonzi (108th and beneficiary of an invitation) emerged victorious from the Franco-French duel of this first round, against Quentin Halys (70th) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
The Frenchman, who ranked 42nd in the ATP at its highest last February, will face the American Christopher Eubanks (30th) in the next round. Hugo Gaston, 99th in the world, quietly qualified for the second round by dismissing the Japanese Sho Shimabukuro, 158th and like him from qualifying, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7/4). The Toulousain, who will turn 23 on September 26, was beaten last year in the first round for his first appearance at Flushing Meadows. This year, he will try to climb to the third round by facing Serbian Laslo Djere (38th) on Wednesday.
Gasquet (55th at 37) lost to Hungarian Fabian Marozsan (92nd) 6-3, 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-7 (1/7), 6-2, closing a season without a single Grand Slam victory. The last year Gasquet didn’t reach the second round of any Major was in 2004, when he didn’t play at Flushing Meadows at all.
Grégoire Barrère (59th) resisted as long as he could before giving in to the Czech from qualifying Jakub Mensik (206th), winner 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-2. No miracle for Alexandre Müller (84th) who, for his first participation, had the honor of facing Novak Djokovic at night in the largest arena in the world, the Arthur-Ashe court and its 24,000 seats. The Frenchman was blown 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 in 1h35. In the women’s draw, Fiona Ferro and Varvara Gracheva were swept away respectively by Belarusian Victoria Azarenka (18th) 6-1, 6-2 and American Taylor Townsend (132nd) 6-4, 6-2. Alizé Cornet, 79th in the world at 33, lost to Russian Elina Avanesyan (66th) 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 for what was likely the last US Open of her career.