Hugo Gaston’s journey to Bastad ended in the second lap. The French lost there to Russian Aslan Karatsev in two sets (6-2, 6-4) and 90 minutes. Pissed off by a refereeing decision in the first game, Karatsev quickly escalated and scored the break. Under the Swedish dodger, the Russian imposed his game and, with a double break in his pocket, easily won the first set.
Gaston did try to react in the second, but his drop shots were too predictable. Locked in a stereotypical game, he conceded a third break in this meeting, which allowed Karatsev to come off too quickly (2-1). Despite two break points, Gaston did not manage to pick up, embarrassed as he was by his opponent’s service and the power of his shots.
Disturbed by the attitude of his opponent, who continually complained about the noise when he had to serve, Gaston nevertheless managed to redo his late break. But it was only to better give up his commitment again on the next game. Despite a declining serve (65% of first serves in the first set, against 50% in the second), Karatsev took advantage of a semblance of lack of involvement from Gaston to complete the set and the match. He will be opposed in the quarter-finals to Francisco Cerundolo, Casper Ruud’s scorer earlier in the day.
