Hugo Gaston Triumphs in French Duel at ATP 250 Tournament in Antwerp

It’s the kind of match that’s always difficult to manage: facing a compatriot on the main circuit. Hugo Gaston, although the lowest ranked of the two (96th against 82nd in the world) came out the best on Monday in the 100% French duel which pitted him against Arthur Rinderknech in the first round of the ATP 250 tournament in Antwerp. He thus won in two tight sets (7-6, 6-4) and a little over two hours of play (2h02 precisely), his first victory on hard court of the season. In his next match, he will challenge the German Jan-Lennard Struff, seeded 2 in the event.

The fate of the game was probably decided in the tie-break of the first set. Gaston then had a double mini-break in advance before seeing Rinderknech lead 6 points to 5 then 7 to 6. But the little left-hander, very quick in his movements and inspired to restart, was able to keep these set points aside, remove the bet 9 to 7 and take the lead. Despite 72% first serves, 11 aces and no double faults, his opponent then took a blow to the head and conceded again (he had been broken from the start in this match before coming back, Editor’s note) his serve at 1- 1 in the second round. The gap too many since he was never able to catch up.

A little earlier in the day, Grégoire Barrère had defeated the Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan, 92nd in the ATP, in two sets (6-1, 7-6) and 1h12 of play. He will cross swords with Alexander Bublik in the 2nd round.

Goffin dismisses Halys

On the other hand, Quentin Halys was stopped by David Goffin (6-4, 6-1). The 26-year-old Frenchman created an illusion in the first round where he led 3-0, then completely let go to offer it to the Belgian (6-4). The second round was a formality for the former world No.7, now down to 105th, who only left a small game to the Frenchman (6-1) before winning in less than an hour. (56 mins).

2023-10-16 19:44:00
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