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Alexandre Muller, a final in Marrakech and an almost guaranteed place in the main draw at Roland-Garros

There will most likely be one more Frenchman in the final draw of the next Roland-Garros (May 28 – June 11). It is not necessarily the most anticipated but Alexandre Muller (26 years old) will not have stolen his place. 126th in the world at the start of the week, the Francilien took advantage of the ATP 250 in Marrakech to signal his presence to the chips of the ATP computer which manages the famous ranking. Thanks to his qualification for the final, after a success (7-6 [3], 7-5) on the Russian Pavel Kotov (114th), here he is at least 96th. While waiting for better, if he wins his first trophy on the main circuit on Sunday, against the Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena (82nd).

Muller’s rise dates back to February. In quick succession, he reached the quarter-finals in Doha (beaten by Andy Murray) and the final of the Chalenger in Waco (Texas). But his coach, Jean-Christophe Faurel, who has been working alongside him since July 2021 at Jean-René Lisnard’s Élite Tennis Center, prefers to go back further in time. “Alex has been playing well for a while, he moderates. The first trigger was when he won the Challenger de Blois last year, after Roland. All that remained was to pass an additional level. But all of that is hard work. »

“It’s the characteristic of the “second knives”: since they don’t know, they make a mountain of others. But it’s not insurmountable.

Jean-Christophe Faurel, coach of Alexandre Muller

The trajectory tells an altogether banal story, that of these players between two waters who must also fight doubt: “When he arrived at “JR”, he was between 250th and 300th, explains Faurel. No one really believed in him, but there are plenty of guys like that in France. We ask him to be stable. But our main job is to make him realize his potential. It is the characteristic of the “second knives”: since they do not know, they make a mountain of the others. But it is not insurmountable. »

Before training Alexandre Muller, Jean-Christophe Faurel notably coached Adrian Mannarino. (N. Luttiau/The Team)

Especially when you spit in the pognes every day. “Alex is a guy who works a lot, dit Faurel. On the pitch, he does everything well but nothing amazing. On the other hand, he is a fucking warrior. He wins all his matches in the fight. This week, in Marrakech, he was very strong in the head. He got out of difficult situations. This morning he was tense. Play Kotov in the semis when we beat (Lorenzo) musetti (21e) the day before, it looks like a trap match. But he was impressive. »

To the point of celebrating his induction into the top 100 on Monday. “For me as for him, it’s only a stage, concludes the coach. Why don’t we talk about the first 50? Alex gradually realizes that it’s not that incredible. »

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