There were hardly any hidden secrets between the two Frenchmen, called out in full sun on court no. 6 of Tennis Paradise on Friday. The Ile-de-France Alexandre Müller and the Forézien Hugo Grenier found themselves in California after having fought five sets and more than 4 hours 20 minutes in the first round of the Australian Open less than two months ago, in an unreal first round ended cramped by the victory of Grenier, who had taken care to polish the image in passing by saving two match points. “If there was one player I didn’t want to play, it was Hugo,” Müller advised. “The memories weren’t great. For a few days it was really hard. It’s a match, given the scenario, if I play it a hundred times, I lose it once! Today, it wasn’t easy mentally, there was a little bit of tension. »
Müller more in control
Friday, the duel was much more classic and this time, it was him, Alexandre Müller, who won in 2 hours, at the end of a contested match and not always linear on both sides (7- 6 [5], 7-5). More in control of his game, Müller (88th in the world), the better ranked of the two, ultimately offered himself more chances to conclude (13 break points, 3 converted). Even if he had to push the song until the decisive game in the first set and let two triple opportunities slip away at 0-40 (at 2-2 and 4-4) in the second, before stealing the serve for good. Grenier at 5-5, showing off his fine hand quality on the fly at the end of the round. “I went to get her. I hit harder than him and little by little, he shortened and shortened and at the moment, I was able to get to the net in good conditions,” he summed up.
From Saturday, Müller will come across the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and his one-handed backhand sharp like a blade in the next round. A nice challenge to take on. “What we should do already is have a good match. He’s been in pretty good shape since the end of last year. I’ll have to take my chances,” he said simply.
