Placed this year in position N.1 for TC Quimperlé, Vitaly Sachko, 28, found himself facing two players from the Top 100 since the start of the Pro A interclubs, while he is only ranked N.166 at the ATP.
And if he lost in three sets (3-6, 6-0, 4-10) against Terence Atmane (N.64) during the first day in Boulogne-sur-Mer, his captain Philippe Huon recalls that he barely had time to warm up after several hours in the car.
Facing Benjamin Bonzi (N.95), Saturday at home, against Boulogne-Billancourt, he collected a precious point (6-4, 6-3 victory) for his team, which then managed to draw (3-3) by winning the two doubles in play, including the one he played with Dalmasso against the Fery-Geerts pair.
“We still watch videos on YouTube”
Since his first campaign with TC Quimperlé in 2023, the Ukrainian has proven himself valuable. He won 63% of his singles (7 wins for 4 losses) and 75% of his doubles (6 wins for 2 losses), although not his specialty. “On the circuit, I don’t play doubles too much. I don’t take them as seriously as the simple ones. But I enjoy it and that’s probably the key. »
And even more than doubles, Vitaly Sachko likes playing interclubs, which he often did in Germany, Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, before discovering the French Pro A with TC Quimperlé.
It was in France that he won his only national champion title. “I also won in Germany, but it was in the second division. Last year’s victory was incredible, because initially, there weren’t enough players to compete in the final, but on our WhatsApp group, we motivated ourselves. And today, with those present last year, we are still watching the videos of this final on YouTube. It warms the heart. »
Winner of Mpetshi-Perricard and Bublik in Metz
A former disciple of ex-pro Jiri Novak – “it was he who opened my eyes to the way the world of tennis works” – Vitaly Sachko does not have a model to speak of. He appreciates Kyrgios, “because you never know what will happen with him”, and also Bublik, whom he has just beaten at the ATP 250 in Metz. At the Moselle Open, he reached the semi-finals after coming out of qualifying and beating another Top 100 (Mpetshi-Perricard, N.59) in addition to Bublik (N.13). “It was the best week of my life tennis-wise. But I also remember my victory in the quarter against Clément Tabur (N.243), who had beaten me in qualifying before I was drafted. It’s never easy to play the same guy twice in a row. »
Before thinking about the rest of his career on the circuit with this objective of one day reaching the Top 100, “like all players”, Vitaly Sachko wants to help TC Quimperlé to maintain itself. “The most important thing today is that we got to know each other and we will try to use our strengths for the last two games. » Team spirit.
The teams
TC QUIMPERLÉ. Vitaliy Sachko (N.27 FFT, N.166 ATP, UKR), Luca Castelnuovo (N.47 FFT, N.410 ATP, SUI), Egor Gerasimov (N.68 FFT, N.773, BIE), Guillaume Dalmaso (N.80 FFT, N.667 ATP), Grégoire Jacq (-9 FFT double, N.100 ATP).
ANNECY. Mattéo Martineau (N.33 FFT, N.323 ATP), Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc (N.36 FFT, N.1,056 ATP), Arthur Reymond (N.51 FFT, N.604 ATP), Antoine Bellier (T100 FFT, NC ATP, SUI), Fabien Salle (-15 FFT).
