Stalled since the start of the season, French tennis can hope to lift its head (a little) during the last Grand Slam of the season.
Dream a little, but not too high. With only two seeds for men and zero for women, French ambitions are still modest on the cusp of the last Grand Slam of the season. Now the question is no longer whether a Frenchman can go after a Grand Slam, but if he can survive a first week of Major … In New York, the Blues hope to do less worse than during the three previous Majors of the season. In Australia, only Adrian Mannarino and Krisitina Mladenovic had completed two laps. Then, no French had gone beyond the second round at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. We had to go back to Wimbledon 1981 to find such a pitiful performance. Monfils remains the main French chance in this US Open. The 34-year-old, after long months of wandering in the covid-19 era, finds a level more worthy of his talent.
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In front of an audience – who will be 100% authorized to attend the last Major of the season, provided they are vaccinated – the Parisian semi-finalist of this tournament in 2016 and quarter-finalist in 2019, can remember his good New York memories. Unable to pass the second round in one of the first three Grand Slams of the season, the still number one French has the means to reach the second week at Flushing Meadows. His summer results were encouraging with a quarterback in Toronto and an 8e in Cincinnati. Opposed in the first round to Fredrico Corria, 61e worldwide, the number 17 seed has entrusted toTeam : « The pandemic hurt me. Of course, it has been worse for a lot of people in their personal lives. Me, it had a big impact in my professional life. Without a pandemic, I might have had the best ranking of my life (he was 11th before the Covid-19), I was playing very well. It took a while but I’m feeling better and better»
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The other seed in the men’s table is Ugo Humbert (n ° 23). Quarter-finalist at the Tokyo Games, the 22-year-old Messin, opposed in the first round to a qualifier Peter Gojowczyk, can also dream of a second week. But in Grand Slam, for the moment, things get stuck for the next generation of French tennis with seven defeats in the first round in eleven Grand Slams and only one 8e final at Wimbledon in 2019. After despair, a little hope? Benoît Paire, at a standstill for a year, has, like Monfils, shown progress during this month of August. L’Avignonnais, fallen back to the 49e world place, has even become a competitive tennis player again. In particular, he reached the quarter-finals at the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati. Confirmation expected in New York on Monday, from the first round against the solid Dusan Lajovic. The other tricolors were not spared by the draw. Richard Gasquet, 82nd in the world, quarter-finalist in Winston-Salem will have to achieve a feat tonight against Daniil Medvedev in the first round. Jérémy Chardy challenges Berrettini, seeded 6 and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga the formidable Casper Ruud, seeded 8.
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As too often in recent years, women’s tennis should still remain in the shadows. Not being seeded, the five Blue entered are exposed to these very complicated draws, conducive to early eliminations. Alizé Cornet had a good run in Chicago (finalist) but from the first round she had to deal with the formidable Ons Jabeur, 21e world player. If she crosses the first round against the Danish Clara Tauson, 18e The young hopeful Clara Burel could face world number one Ashleigh Barty in the next round. Difficult entry into the matter for Kristina Mladenovic, opposed to Johana Konta. Before perhaps finding Iga Swiatek in the second round, Fiona Ferra against Nao Hibino Hibinao, and Caroline Garcia against the qualified Harriet Dart, have a good chance of continuing the adventure for at least one round …
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