In recent months, there is a sport that is growing and growing and never stops growing in France. No, we are not talking about defeat, the good big “lose”. Some somewhat teasing colleagues have dedicated a federation to this sector and are much more talented. No, we’re talking to you about the Marseillaise. Sung in abundance in the country’s arenas until reaching its climax during the Rugby World Cup, the national anthem enjoyed unparalleled popularity until this week, sometimes on the verge of being irrelevant.
Until what? Until the Masters 1000 in Paris. Central and annex courts included, the public did not have the opportunity to form many battalions, nor to celebrate the arrival of the day of glory. No title on the horizon, we suspected that, but to put away flags and scarves after three days is enough to sink into denial.
However, we had to open our eyes when Ugo Humbert put away his racket and folded his towels at Central after three hours and thirty minutes of play on Wednesday evening. A Dantesque fight lost by a hair (6-4, 6-7, 7-6) against world number nine Alexander Zverev… A very beautiful spectacle concluded with a sad record. This is the second time since 1986 that no Frenchman will appear on the program for the third round. A famine that feels like crossing the desert and déjà vu.
Only two quarter-finals in Masters 1000 this season
It has now been four years since a man reached the final four of a Grand Slam or an ATP 1000 tournament, the highest level of the circuit. The 2023 season is no exception to the rule. No tennis player has reached the second week of a Major for only two appearances in the quarter-finals of a Masters 1000 (Mannarino in Cincinnati, Humbert in Shanghai) and six in the eighth.
France is no longer invited to the very high-level table, the observation is clear. From there to brooding, there is a step that the Federation does not want to take. She prefers to emphasize the twenty-four players registered in the top 200 and the twenty-six titles gleaned this year in Challenger events. The sign of a vitality that invites patience? Arnaud Clément, former Davis Cup captain, wants to believe it. “There is nothing to worry about. French tennis is on a good dynamic. The results will follow. You have to give yourself a little time. »
He is thinking in particular of the two promises Arthur Fils and Luca Van Assche, both 19 years old and out in the first round. Ugo Humbert, inserted between this generation and those of the veterans, had some interesting words on Tuesday about the difficulties inherent in a first season among the pros. Its arenas with more than 10,000 or 15,000 spectators, its weak times to know how to surpass without getting frustrated when facing seasoned players, but not necessarily more talented, its sequences of matches across the planet… All this can be learned, at a rhythm still unknown, between great advances and more sluggish sequences.
“My first year at Bercy, I was super stressed. You’re going to play at the Central, there are people, a lot of noise, it’s not easy. When I was young, people told me: “It’s the experience. “. I did not understand anything. “Why the experience? He lost “. (…) Now, I manage to build my own thing, to be in my bubble. I have made a lot of progress in this. »
Gaël Monfils and Richard Gasquet will not say the opposite. They too have been there and are now trying to put up resistance in the top 100. Three different generations for the same goal: no longer making a qualification for the third round of a Grand Slam or a Masters 1000 a happy one accident.
