The young french Hugo Gaston, 20 years and 239 of the world, achieved the feat of eliminating the Swiss Stan Wawrinka, triple Grand Slam winner, in five sets: 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0. In the second round the Austrian will be measured Dominic Thiem.
De Toulouse, debutant at Roland Garros, became a local idol as the only French survivor in the men’s singles: “It’s crazy what’s happening, really,” smiled Gaston, recipient of an invitation, to the cheers of the few spectators allowed to attend the tournament due to the resumption of the epidemic of Covid-19 in France.
“I tried to play my game, I came to the field to win, I didn’t necessarily think I was going to win, but I did my best,” continued the shy left-hander, very skilled with the racket.
He became the lowest ranked player to reach the Roland Garros round of 16 since another Frenchman, Arnaud di Pasquale, did it in 2002 being 283 in the world. .
The rain interrupted the match, scheduled on the court Suzanne-Lenglen, at 2-2 of the third set, for two and a half hours. But that didn’t distract Gaston. When he returned from the dressing room, it was he who imposed his game all in creativity and variation to lead two sets to one.
Wawrinka, winner of Roland Garros in 2015 and again a finalist in 2017, rose again, but the little French (1.73 meters tall) He made him dizzy in the deciding set by inflicting a relentless 6-0 in less than thirty minutes.
Now it’s Thiem. “It is going to be a crazy experience. I’m going to give it my all like today. We will see the result, I have nothing to lose and I will do everything possible again to win ”, he promised.
