Invited by the organizers, Grégoire Barrère qualified for the second round of Roland-Garros by beating Taro Daniel in five sets. Quentin Halys, meanwhile, gave in to 23rd seed John Isner.
Eighth finalist at Roland-Garros in 2019, his best season so far (he had reached 80th place in the world), Grégoire Barrère had not won a Porte d’Auteuil match since. The 28-year-old from Ile-de-France has fallen to 209th in the world and is playing Roland-Garros thanks to a wild card. An invitation to which he honored, with a victory in the first round against Taro Daniel (105th): 3-6, 6-2, 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 3:16. The French and the Japanese, who had already faced each other in the first round of the US Open 2020 (victory for Barrère in four sets), alternated the good and the less good in this part marked by ten breaks. Broken from the start of the match, Daniel reacted by easily winning the first set, but lost the second by giving up the last four games of the set. In the third, he blew up Barrère by taking his serve three times and signing two shutouts. But Barrère, pushed by the public, reacted magnificently by winning the last two sets, with a break at 2-1 in the fourth and at 1-1 in the fifth.
Halys resisted but finally gave in against Isner
In the end, there will only be 50% success for the Habs this Sunday at Roland-Garros. Indeed, Quentin Halys did not have the same success as Grégoire Barrère during his duel against John Isner, seeded number 23 of the French Open.. Faced with a big server like the American, you have to know how to seize your chance to break when it presents itself. However, in the first set, Quentin Halys did not succeed in the third game. In the tiebreak, winning two points on his opponent’s service, John Isner made the difference to turn in the lead. The Frenchman, however, took the lesson and, at the very end of the second round, applied it. After saving three break points, Quentin Halys converted his only opportunity to take the service of the 26th player in the world and pick up one set everywhere. The third set first saw John Isner break but the Frenchman picked up four games everywhere. The American was then patient to crush the tiebreak and regain the advantage in this meeting. The scenario of the first set was then reproduced in the fourth. In the eleventh game, Quentin Halys missed the only break point he could give himself and was taken in a decisive third game. John Isner took the lead there very early on, but the 86th player in the world then saved three match points. The fourth was then good for John Isner (7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 in 3h24′) who will find Grégoire Barrère in the second round!
