All he needed was one step to climb to reach the big picture at Roland-Garros. But faced with the power of the Serbian Hamad Medjedovic, Geoffrey Blancaneaux had no weapons this Thursday, beaten in two sets and 1h19 of play in the third and final round of qualifying (6-2, 6-2).
For his first on the Suzanne-Lenglen court, very packed and totally committed to his cause, the winner of the junior edition in 2016 was never able to worry the 134th in the world, 20 years old. Far too inconsistent on serve (6 double faults, 21% of points won behind his second ball), the 277th in the world will not access his second big draw on Parisian clay after his first experience in 2022.
But seeing Blancaneaux in the third round of qualifying was already quite a surprise. The 25-year-old Frenchman arrived at Porte d’Auteuil with very few benchmarks and only two victories in ten matches on gravel, the only bright spot of the season, his success on a Challenger in India, dating back to March, on hard court. Winner of his compatriot Antoine Escoffier in three sets in the first round then author of a beautiful hold-up against the Croatian Duje Ajdukovic (130th in the world) in the second, he will nevertheless have had a good run at this Roland-Garros 2024.
“I was a little tense at the start and from 5-2 he really got into the mode: “I don’t think anymore, I hit everything that moves””
“It’s always hard to lose in front of your audience, especially with so many people and support, it hurts a little but I’m going to get up and move forward,” assures Blancaneaux. I’m still happy, I didn’t hope to be in the last round of qualifying at Roland. I had two solid matches in the state of mind but today I didn’t have the solutions. It was my first on Lenglen, I have rarely played in front of so many people. I was a little tense at the beginning and from 5-2 he really got into the mode: “I don’t think anymore, I hit everything that moves.” It cut my rhythm, it was stronger. He is a very powerful player, he has an ability to accelerate the ball, put heaviness on it which made me suffer throughout the match. I didn’t find a solution, he was more enterprising, more aggressive, bravo to him. »
Falling on Medjedovic in this decisive match was surely one of the worst possible draws. Protected by Novak Djokovic, coached by Viktor Troicki, the winner of the 2023 Next Gen Masters will have flown through qualifying, dismissing Lucas Pouille in the first round then his compatriot Filip Krajinovic without losing a set along the way.
2024-05-23 10:46:33
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