Hugo Grenier offers himself Diego Schwartzman in the first round in Madrid

It is certainly the most beautiful of his career. At 27, Frenchman Hugo Grenier (128th in the world) offered himself a nice hunting trophy by leaving the Madrid tournament a Grand Slam semi-finalist and former member of the top 10 ATP! On Wednesday, on court No. 3 of the Caja Magica, Hugo Grenier got rid of the Argentinian Diego Schwartzman cleanly and in two sets (7-5, 6-4).

So certainly, the former world number 8 and member of the last four at Roland-Garros in 2020 is today only a distant cousin of “El Peque” who ran all over the court and rounded everything that moved. The South American has tumbled to 72nd place in the world and has not won two matches in a row since the US Open 2022!

Nevertheless, for debuts in Masters 1000 and on clay, it was still necessary to fade the little Argentinian (1.70 m). And Grenier did not flinch, not even at 5-4, as he served for the match, pulling out of his cap a pretty brilliant winning “underhand” forehand drop shot, before ending the match with a long backhand line shot straight, which will have hurt Schwartzman very badly all game.

Grenier, the man of great firsts

For his eleventh match and only his fourth victory on the ATP circuit, Grenier had a great time. A small happiness which is in line with his Grand Slam debut last year, at Wimbledon then at the US Open, where the Forézien had each time managed to cross the first round. Like what the big premieres do not seem to scare him.

Wednesday in any case, Grenier went there more frankly in the game than the Argentinian. Carried by a much sharper service (8 aces against 0), he also regularly put Schwartzman in difficulty as soon as the second ball returned, often served weakly by the Argentinian (21% of points won only behind his second ball).

And even when the Frenchman agreed to fight in the long sector, the Argentinian’s favorite terrain, it was he who often emerged victorious from the rallies, reciting a first set almost without waste, with only three unforced errors. Grenier therefore continues his Madrid adventure. In the next round, he will challenge the 28th world American Sebastian Korda.