Delphine Delrue and Thom Gicquel had not won since the start of the calendar year. Laurent Lairys / Panoramic
Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue won for the first time this year at the French Open in Paris. A victory which allows them both to regain confidence, but also to test the playing conditions for the Olympic Games.
The French mixed pair, 13th in the world rankings, has not yet won their ticket to participate in the Olympic Games. But hopes to score valuable points at the French Open to win this sesame.
In the first round, the French pair took their revenge against the Malaysians Soon Huat Goh and Shevon Jemie Lai (14th in the world), who had beaten them in mid-January in India. After a very tight first set but won thanks to a good end to the set, the French tandem took off at the start of the second set to finally win without trembling: 21-19, 21-16.
The encounter : “It was a good match to start with, especially since we lost pretty badly (21-12, 21-15) in India. We are very satisfied. It’s a mix between very happy and relieved. In Paris, we are expected so there is more pressure. It’s been a long time since we won a set, let alone a match. We are really happy to have won in this room. »
Their current form : “We were in a moment of doubt since the start of the year, so getting back to basics in front of family and friends gave us the motivation which allowed us to make the difference in the first set (21-19). »
L’Adidas Arena : ” She is magnificent. It’s big but we still feel close to the audience. In addition, it is very classy, very black, this slightly electric atmosphere makes things very nice. And from the outside, it’s beautiful. »
The playing conditions : “The room is not fast, it’s a bit slow but one side is faster than the other so we took advantage of it. Even though the room is big, we can see well and we can feel the audience with us, so it’s cool. »
The Olympics, in five months but already very close : “Yes we feel it, there are already many of you (journalists) (smiles). You can feel the difference almost everywhere. Everyone talks to us about it, there is additional pressure but we like it…”admitted Gicquel after the meeting. «Well, not too much either, because it adds extra pressure to us,” added his partner. “It’s cool to have a test now to gauge the conditions.»
2024-03-06 07:53:59
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