It is midnight thirty-five and the audience of the Central of the Accor Arena sings the Marseillaise. On the court, Hugo Gaston is performing an almost mind-blowing performance. Led 5-0 30A in the second set after winning the first (6-4) against the young Spanish prodigy Carlos Alcaraz, the Toulouse, with the unconditional support of the stands, has totally turned the brain of the Murcian and is about to serve for the game.
A few minutes later, the tricolor pixie can run to embrace his noisy clan. Coming from the qualifications, here he is in the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 after having beaten in three sets Anderson, former finalist of the US Open, Musetti, Rinderknech, Carreno Busta (17th player in the world) and given the lesson to the student of the former world n ° 1 Juan-Carlos Ferrero, who completely liquefied under the weight of the event.
“I’ll be frank, I had already prepared my outfit for the third set, laughs the hero of Roland Garros 2020, where he had defeated Wawrinka before falling with his head held high against Thiem. I heard some “remorada” coming from the stands and I said to myself: why not ? “Result, between 2-5 and 7-5, Alcaraz made only… two points. Completely paralyzed. Almost unable to hit a bullet.
“We talked about it in the locker room,” explains Marc Barbier, the French coach. We told ourselves that Carlos is only 18 years old. He is a great player but with the weaknesses of his age. He got a little panicked. The audience has been awesome, they’ve been wearing it from the start. It’s difficult to put words into it, the emotion is so strong, it’s so amazing what’s happening it’s even magical. Honestly, I was already preparing for the third set… ”
At the edge of the field, Isabelle Inchauspé, Gaston’s mental trainer, enjoyed the show. “I told her to take advantage of the moment,” she says. He’s a boy who is very anchored, he doesn’t get excited, he doesn’t necessarily come looking for that. He comes to seek sensations, to play tennis well, but everything else is more. His clan is important emotionally, he is very close to his mother, to his friends… The public is not a pressure for him. On the contrary. He does not come to draw energy from it to galvanize him but a means of improving his quality of play. “
Friday evening, around 7:30 p.m., the march promises to be a little higher against the world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, defending champion. “It’s an extraordinary level, slips Inchauspé. If he can take pleasure in playing … The difficulty is that Medvedev prevents him from playing and that he tenses up. “
Gaston, assured of being at least 67th in the world, has already won everything and largely fulfilled his objectives for the season. He won’t have much to lose. “To challenge Daniil who is the title holder here is only happiness, he says. I will have time to sleep well, to eat well, and then there you go. Do a good warm-up in the afternoon to be ready at 7:30 p.m. I will be there. It will be a very good game against one of the very best players in the world. “
