He had shone at Roland Garros by reaching the round of 16 as a wild card. The whole of France remembers his victory over Wawrinka and his breathtaking match against Dominic Thiem on that Sunday evening at the end of the first week. That day, Hugo Gaston revealed himself to all the French. Since then, things have been more complicated. No more victory on the main circuit. Not easy to go from the light to the shade, to go back to the challengers. But that doesn't matter, it takes more to discourage the man from Toulouse. And when Jean-François Caujolle offered him his hand, he took it happily.
Before facing Austrian Dennis Novak (the best friend of the man who beat him at the French Open), Gaston was quite happy, because it is a "playable" draw. But after the first set, the Frenchman could be worried this time. Unable to impose his game, far behind his baseline, the current 166th player in the world suffered the law of Novak, losing 6-3.
By breaking early in the second set, Gaston announces the colour to his opponent. He didn't come to make a show of it. And it looks like his break points are paying off. The longer the match goes on, the more Dennis Novak seems to sink physically. Just because the tournament is not played on clay doesn't mean that the Frenchman won't continue to play his game. "That's my style and I'll continue to play it no matter what the surface is," Gaston confirmed after the match in the press conference. His break from the start allowed him to take the second set and, above all, to put a big blow on the back of Novak's head who, for his part, continued to fall physically.
Trailing 4-0 in the third set, the Austrian must have felt that the end was near. His opponent would only allow him one game before winning 3-6 6-4 6-1 in 2 hours. Hugo Gaston finally got his first victory on the "big" circuit outside Roland Garros. Relieved, he can relax and watch the match between Frenchman Greg Barrère and Italian Jannick Sinner to find out who his opponent will be in the second round.
