After overturning and capsizing the court Suzanne Lenglen against the Australian Alex De Minaur (seeded n ° 19) in the 1st round, Hugo Gaston (21 years old; 74th in the world) chained 6-4, 6-2, 6- 4 against the Argentinian Pedro Cachin who embodied the trap match par excellence, this Thursday at Roland-Garros. Hugo Gaston likes challenges, electric atmospheres. And above all, loves to play and shine in Paris. He proved, relying once again on the support of the spectators, that he could stay focused and bear the weight of waiting and the always delicate role of favourite. In a press conference, he confided his pleasure and his desire for new emotions.
The game under control against Cachin: “I came on the pitch thinking that I had to give the maximum because it would be complicated, the player had nothing to lose. I managed my game rather well, my emotions. So I’m very happy with what happened. The score doesn’t really reflect the match, for me. Mentally, it was a very tough match because I’m not necessarily used to coming in on Suzanne Lenglen as a favorite – in the standings, anyway. So it was a very complicated game, but I think I managed it well, despite a small drop in the third where I had a lot of “opportunities” to make a double break that I don’t do. I get “unbroken”. I manage to make a good 4-all game to “rebreak” and end up with 2 good points afterwards. So I’m very happy with the game. »
The secrets of the perfect combination with Paris: “I don’t really know. I think there is a whole thing, the personality, my style of play also necessarily which is a little different from the others. But inevitably, it’s pretty cool for me to have an atmosphere like that on my matches, to have the public pushing me all the time. It helps, it gives energy, strength. So I try to use it. Either way, it’s good. Better to have them with, than against. »
And now the Dane Holger Rune (19 years old; 40th in the world): “Rune is a very good player still very young, who is the same age as Alcaraz. We definitely talk less about it. He has a lot of wins this year. He won his first title (in Munich). I know him a little. We already trained here earlier this week. I played doubles with him this year too. So I know he’s a very hard-playing player. So it will be a very complicated match but it will be a good time. He’s a person I really like. We ended last year doing Next Gen together. Inevitably, we were only eight players, so we were all quite close. Since we got along very well, we saw both to do the double in Marseille this year. Besides, we played well. He’s a very nice guy off the pitch. So that’s going to be nice. It remains a friend but on the ground, it will not be a friend. »
Chatier or Lenglen? ” We’ll see. The organization will decide. Me, on the Lenglen, for the moment, I feel good (laughs) but if I have to switch to the central, I will switch to the Central. »
Ready for a possible night session? “Yes, afterwards, we are not going to decide. The tournament will decide. We will see, there are very good matches too. If it’s in night session, it will be very good. I don’t know if it will be on Central. »
