The 2022 edition of the Madrid Masters 1000 will not be enough to revive French tennis. After Gaël Monfils’ defeat on Tuesday against Novak Djokovic, Lucas Pouille was the last to lay down his arms on Wednesday evening, powerless against an overconfident Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Pouille (174th) lost at 11:25 p.m., ten minutes before ten kilometers away, Real Madrid qualified, after extra time, for the Champions League final. Too imprecise, he was never able to threaten the world No. 5, winner in just 1:08 (6-3, 6-4).
Too far back
Contrary to the convincing streak of his first round against Karen Khachanov, the Frenchman did not manage to correctly revive the service of the Greek, who scored 94% of the points behind his first ball (31/33!) and always appeared in control over the whole game.
In a Caja Magica which sounded hollow and where some spectators quickly realized that by climbing to the top of the stands, they could follow, through the large bay windows, the football match broadcast on the screens located in the VIP boxes, Lucas Pouille will have at least tasted again at a very high level, before continuing his recovery operation, next week, at the Challenger tournament in Bordeaux.
Stefanos Tsitsipas will face Grigor Dimitrov on Thursday in the round of 16.