A prosperous night for the French clan in Melbourne: Gaël Monfils wasted no time, Luca Van Assche came back from a two-set deficit and Adrian Mannarino took out Stan Wawrinka, also in five sets, to qualify for the second round .
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The rest of the first round of the Australian Open continues, Monday January 15, on the hot courts of Melbourne. The world number 3, Daniil Medevev, left some feathers but qualified, as did the French Varvara Gracheva, Gaël Monfils, Luca Van Assche, Hugo Gaston and Adrian Mannarino, winner with the forceps of Stan Wawrinka.
The French: Monfils serious, Mannarino and Van Assche worn out, Gaston opportunistic
The “grandpas” put up resistance. Adrian Mannarino, 35 years old, defeated Stan Wawrinka (38 years old) at the end of a five-set match that the French number one (19th in the ATP) concluded on the ground, taking advantage of the physical collapse of the Swiss in the last two (6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0).
Always a pleasure, @stanwawrinka ❤️#AusOpen • #AO2024 pic.twitter.com/8yulRMKPtV
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 15, 2024
Like his elder, the hopeful Luca Van Assche (19 years old) recovered from a two-sets-to-one disadvantage to win in five sets, at the expense of the Australian guest James Duckworth, knocked down 6-7 ( 2-7), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. In the second round, Adrian Mannarino will face the Spaniard Jaume Munar (82nd), and Luc Van Assche will challenge the young Italian Lorenzo Musetti (28th).
Later, in the “night session”, Gaël Monfils also shone. But shooting star style. It only took 2h19 of play for the Parisian to defeat the German Yannick Hanfmann (6-4, 6-3, 7-5). No difficult start for Monfils who had nevertheless lost his only match played so far in 2024, in Auckland against the Hungarian Fabian Marozsan, and who had twisted an ankle during the match. At 37 years old, “La Monf” continues his adventure and will face, in the second round, the Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry, 30th player in the world.
Hugo Gaston, for his part, took advantage of his status as a “lucky loser” to defeat the Spaniard Roberto Carballes (63rd) 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in the first round. The Toulouse left-hander, 97th in the ATP, will now challenge world number 12 Taylor Fritz, who however experienced a new scare in an ankle in the first round, his known point of weakness.
Opposed to the young Italian Lorenzo Musetti, 28th in the world, Benjamin Bonzi (106th) lost from the start 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-2 after almost three hours and a half match. Just like Constant Lestienne (99th) against the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich (24th), victorious 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).
In the women’s draw, Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva (39th) qualified quickly for the second round at the expense of Belgian Yanina Wickmayer (79th) 6-3, 6-4. Naturalized French last May, Gracheva (23 years old), of Russian origin, will face in the second round the Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska (93rd), from the qualifications and defeater of the last surprise winner of Wimbledon and world n°7, the Czech Marketa Vondrousova 6-1, 6-2. Less success, however, for Fiona Ferro, defeated by the American McCartney Kessler (3-6, 6-3, 6-2).
The favorites: Medvedev surprised but solid
A little heat for Daniil Medvedev. And the Melbourne furnace is not the only one responsible. The third player in the world lost the first set against Terence Atmane (144th) in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday, before benefiting from the abandonment of the French qualifier in the fourth set, caught up by cramps.
Medvedev, who was playing his very first match of the 2024 season, finally won 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 1-0 in just over two and a half hours. At the start of the third round (at 1-1), the young Habs was suddenly attacked by leg cramps and found himself unable to serve, except with a spoon, and to play. And Atmane, who ended up in tears on his bench, chose to give up early in the fourth set, in the second game.
In the second round, the double finalist of the Australian Open (2021 and 2022) will face the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori (53rd).
For his part, Stefanos Tsitsipas, world No. 7 and outgoing finalist in Melbourne, had a false start before outclassing 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 the Belgian Zizou Bergs (129th), drafted from last minute. The Greek was in fact initially supposed to start the Australian fortnight against former world top 10 Matteo Berrettini but the Italian withdrew due to an injury to his right foot.
In the women’s table, the American Cori Gauff, seeded number 4, had a smooth start against the Slovak Karolína Schmiedlová, dispatched in two straight sets (6-3, 6-0).