After Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Jérémy Chardy, it’s the turn of Richard Gasquet, hit in a thigh, to give up playing the tournament in Metz, a few hours before his first match, against the German Gojowczyk. A package that benefits another Frenchman Antoine Hoang, propelled lucky loser.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (36), Jérémy Chardy (34) and now Richard Gasquet (35). Like his two compatriots who are also closer to retirement than to their debut and respectively injured in a calf and suffering from back pain, the Biterrois must in turn withdraw from the Metz tournament, which began Monday in Moselle. The 81st world, semi-finalist last week in Rennes (Challenger), should initially have followed the Breton tournament and the Moselle Open. But it was without counting on a hamstring problem which forced him to make his debut in the tournament a few hours against the German Peter Gojowczyk to finally give up aligning on the Moselle courts where Tsonga had triumphed there. two years during the last edition of the tournament dear to Julien Boutter (in 2020, the event was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic). A package that makes the happiness of another French, much younger than Gasquet, Antoine Hoang (25 years). The Var was defeated Monday against the same Gojowczyk in the last round of qualifying at the gates of the main draw. Gasquet is absent, he will still take part in the tournament, as a lucky loser, and will find the German who beat him in qualifying on Wednesday for a place in the second round. and should have originally faced Gasquet.
Gasquet: “I feel that I am still competitive”
The latter, registered in Orleans next week, remains to this day among the list of participants in this other meeting of the Challenger circuit. “What prompts me to play Challengers?” The pleasure of the game, quite simply, had answered the Biterrois last week to a question from Nicolas Mahut as part of a live interview on the Instagram account of We Are Tennis. I am happy to play there, to be in France, with the public. Even when I am going to stop tennis, because it will not be long, this year, early next year, at the end of next year, anything can happen I know that I will always play and that I will always have fun with it friends. It is simply the pleasure of play and sport. “” I feel that I am still competitive, and as long as I can still play the four Grand Slam tournaments per year, I will continue “, added our national” Ritchy “, without knowing yet that he could not match. in Metz.
METZ (France, ATP 250, hard inside, € 481,270)
Title holder (in 2019): Jo-Wifried Tsonga (FRA)
First round
Hurkacz (POL, n°1) – Bye
Pouille (FRA, WC) – cord (CAN, Q)
Pospisil (CAN) bat Barrier (FRA, WC) : 6-3, 6-4
Murray (GBR, WC) – Humbert (FRA, n ° 6)
De Minaur (AUS, n ° 4) – Bye
Rinderknech (FRA) – Giron (USA)
Hoang (FRA, LL) – Gojowczyk (ALL, Q)
Muller (FRA, Q) – Khachanov (RUS, n°7)
Basilashvili (GEO, n°8) bat Mager (ITA): 6-3, 7-6 (5)
Davidovich Fokina (ESP) – Simon (FRA, PR)
Kohlschreiber (ALL, Q) – Cecchinato (ITA)
Monfils (FRA, n ° 3) – Bye
Sonego (ITA, n ° 5) bat Fucsovics (HUN): 6-3, 6-2
Rune (DAN, Q) – LL
M.Ymer (SUE) – Struff (ALL)
Carreño Busta (ESP, n ° 2) – Bye
