It was quite a move that Quentin Halys pulled off on Wednesday. The 27-year-old Frenchman, in tough conditions in recent months, scored a prestigious victory in the second round of Roland-Garros qualifying, against Diego Schwartzman (4-6, 6-4, 7-6 [7]). He also closed the Parisian chapter in the career of the Argentinian, semi-finalist in 2020 at Porte d’Auteuil and former world top 10, who announced his retirement after the Buenos Aires tournament next February.
For his part, Halys, 187th in the world, is getting closer to a place in the final table. He will compete on Friday against the Austrian Filip Misolic, who defeated Haut-Savoyard Ugo Blanchet at the end of the day on Suzanne-Lenglen (6-2, 6-4).
In this opposition of style, between the powerful Bondynois (1.91 m) and the pocket-sized Argentinian (1.70 m), the second first showed off his knowledge of the game on land and his ability to pocket long shots. rallies. But under the roof of Suzanne-Lenglen, in indoor conditions which favored his game and the atmosphere – “There was really a lot of noise, it was quite incredible” (Halys) – the Ile-de-France resident enjoyed a match which has stretched to gradually impose its qualities. Especially since Schwartzman, bothered by physical problems for months, had arrived in Paris without much certainty about the state of his body.
Halys thus got back to a set everywhere, before leading 4-2 only to be broken in the process. The end of the third set became epic, with extended games that the servers ended up saving, to push the affair to a well-negotiated super tie-break. “From 5-4 in the third, there weren’t many unprovoked errors and there were a lot of good points in the super tie-break,” Halys said after his victory. I have the merit of having been more aggressive, my game lends itself to it. There are a lot of positives to take away from this match. »
