French Open 2022: Can Hugo Gaston stop Holger Rune?
On Saturday evening (from 8:45 p.m. on Philippe-Chatrier) the young Dane Holger Rune and local hero Hugo Gaston will meet in the third round of the French Open 2022. The Frenchman excels with one stroke in particular: the dropshot.
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
May 28, 2022, 09:10 am
By Jens Huiber from Roland Garros
We remember: In autumn 2020 in Roland Garros, Hugo Gaston almost drove Dominic Thiem mad with what felt like several thousand stops, but not in defeat. But it was still enough for Thiem's tank to finally be empty, which was followed by a quarter-final defeat against Diego Schwartzman. But Gaston, it was thought, could cause problems for many other players with his approach, especially on clay. Now it is in the eye of the beholder whether this assumption was correct: Hugo Gaston, now 21 years old and therefore still very young, is in 74th place in the ATP world rankings. And reached the third round again at the French Open 2022.
As? First and foremost with what felt like several thousand drop shots per match. In the first, it was too much for Alex de Minaur, one of the fastest players on the tour. Gaston won in the match tiebreak of the fifth set. In round two, Pedro Cachin was allowed to try his hand at the local hero, which went smoothly without any drama. The next candidate? Holger Rune from Denmark.
Rune beats local favorite Zverev in Munich
Rune won the junior title here in 2019, and the 19-year-old played his two previous games against Denis Shapovalov and Henri Laaksonen on Court 12. A court with small grandstands where not a single seat was left empty. Rune, who won his first title on the ATP tour in Munich a few weeks ago, is slowly getting the attention he demanded for himself after his coup three years ago. Also nationwide. On Thursday, the New York Times reporter took the teenager to his chest.
The drop shot is also familiar to Rune's game, but he prefers to operate with a lot of spin and speed, i.e. heavy, from the baseline. Will that stop Gaston from putting ball after ball just behind the net with backspin? The ATP side does not show any experience for this duel, it will be the first meeting between Rune and Gaston. As a counter-program to the final of the Champions League in Stade de France. Because alongside Gilles Simon, Hugo Gaston is the last remaining Frenchman in the 128 grid. And has brought the Court Suzanne-Lenglen to a boil twice.
Maybe Holger Rune's experience from Munich will also help: There he had to play against local favorite Alexander Zverev in the round of 16. And not only shocked the German number one, but also the audience.
Here the individual tableau in Roland Garros
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