Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, 108ᵉ player in the ATP rankings, qualified for the third round of the US Open tennis on Wednesday August 30 by defeating American Chris Eubanks (30ᵉ), seeded number 28, 7-6 (8/6), 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (9/7). Hugo Gaston was eliminated. Adrian Mannarino and the unexpected Titouan Droguet can still make it to the third round on Wednesday.
In total, eight of the 24 Frenchmen entered in the men’s and women’s main draws advanced to the second round. Four played on Wednesday and the other four (Gaël Monfils, Arthur Fils, Arthur Rinderknech and Clara Burel) will play on Thursday.
Thanks to his victory against Eubanks, Benjamin Bonzi is already assured of his best result at the US Open, where he reached the second round last year.
In difficult conditions, with a noisy American public and completely committed to the cause of Eubanks, the 27-year-old from Nîmes showed composure, in particular on a passing-shot from behind which allowed him to win the first set.
In the 3rd round, Bonzi against Stricker
After quickly giving up the second set, the Frenchman took advantage of Eubanks’ slowdown on his serve, with 3 double faults and a weakness on the second ball. In the fourth set, Eubanks seemed to lack momentum, committing 24 unforced errors in that set alone. Bonzi nevertheless needed a decisive game and three match points to conclude, after a very feverish end to the match.
In the third round, the Frenchman will face the Swiss surprise Dominic Stricker, another seed cutter, who offered himself the seventh player in the world, Stefanos Tsitsipas, in the second round.
Still on the French side, luck did not smile on Hugo Gaston, however. The 99th player in the world was beaten by Serbian Laslo Djere (number 38), 6-1, 6-2, 6-3.
Winner of two Challenger tournaments in July (Iasi and Trieste), the Toulousain struggled the whole match against the Serbian’s powerful baseline game. The Frenchman looked to force fate at the net, earning 25 points on the climbs, but he also committed 29 unforced errors.
In the third round, Laslo Djere, seeded number 32, will cross swords with his compatriot Novak Djokovic, winner of the Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles (6-4, 6-1, 6-1).
Caroline Garcia renounces the double
Outgoing semi-finalist, Caroline Garcia, eliminated in the first round of the US Open on Tuesday, explained on Wednesday that she was affected by a bereavement in her family which also forced her to give up the double. “These last two days have been very difficult for our family. My grandmother left us on Monday afternoon,” the 29-year-old Lyonnaise wrote on social media.
“I couldn’t show up yesterday [Tuesday] at the press [conference] after my loss, the emotions were too great,” she adds. At the end of a match where she had actually appeared next to the subject, Garcia was absent at the press briefing, however compulsory. No explanation was then given.
“My heart needs to be with my loved ones to say a last goodbye to my grandmother, which is why I will not be able to present myself in doubles with Kristina [Mladenovic] on this tournament”, specifies the player. “There is a time for everything in life. Tennis today is secondary,” she concludes.