A qualification in pain. Caroline Garcia, 5th in the world, experienced great difficulty for her entry into the running this Monday at Roland-Garros, snatching the victory 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-4 in 2:38 against the Chinese Xiyu Wang (64th). “The match was really addictive, she has a very good game, she was full of confidence with a good result in Rome (loss in the round of 16 while Garcia lost in the third round), there was a lot of wind…” , listed the 29-year-old Frenchwoman.
“But I tried to have the right attitude, to always be positive, to find solutions as I went along. I managed to keep this attitude when it hadn’t been the case for the past few weeks, so it’s a super positive point, ”she analyzed. In the next round, she will face Belarusian Anna Blinkova (56th).
Among the men, the promising Arthur Fils (18) had to bow as soon as he entered the running. The very recent winner of his first ATP tournament, on clay in Lyon, fell in four sets to Spanish specialist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (34th in the world) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Also unlucky, Benoît Paire led for a long time against Cameron Norrie (14th in the world) before yielding in the decisive fifth set 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 after 3:33 hours. a hotly contested game. “I stayed focused from start to finish, didn’t get upset. I don’t really have any regrets,” he said, saying he was “very happy” with his game. The Briton will face in the next round another Frenchman, Lucas Pouille who qualified on Sunday by beating the Austrian Jurij Rodionov (134th in the world) 6-2, 6-4, 6-3, a performance he no longer had accomplished for almost four years in a grand slam tournament.