Arthur Rinderknech, 73? world player in the ATP ranking, qualified Thursday, August 31 for the third round of the US Open, benefiting from the abandonment on injury of the Italian Matteo Berrettini (36?), who twisted the right ankle in the second set. The Frenchman dominated the match 6-4, 5-3 before the Italian’s injury.
“I was in my game, very happy with the way I was playing,” said the former Texas A student.
At 28, Rinderknech had never passed the second round in a Grand Slam tournament. He will face either his compatriot Gaël Monfils (162?) or the Russian Andrey Rublev (8?) on Saturday.
Rinderknech looks in good shape after accumulating physical glitches since last year. Tormented by his wrist last year, he then contracted Covid-19 in December 2022, then mononucleosis in January and February 2023, before declaring pubalgia.
Towards a Franco-French duel?
“It’s been maybe a month, a month and a half that I manage to chain matches again without telling myself how I’m going to play the next one? “, described the Varois by birth. “Everything is fine physically. Today I was extremely well, he continued. I feel like I had five sets in my legs without a problem. »
Ready for his third round, Rinderknech already foresees the possibility of a Franco-French duel. Rublev “is a very big player. (…) I hope Gaël will beat him. We know how strong Gaël is when he is able to play. (…) I would be delighted to play another Frenchman. »
