French Teen Gueymard Wayenburg Topples Veteran At Roland Garros

Nineteen-year-old Frenchman Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg made a successful start to his Roland Garros campaign on Monday when he defeated 27th seed Denis Kudla 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of qualifying.

The teen has not yet played a tour-level match, but he did not show his lack of experience against a veteran in Kudla, who has competed in 200 tour-level matches. The home favourite saved 11 of the 12 break points he faced and converted all three of his opportunities to advance after one hour and 32 minutes.

Another teen, Chinese 18-year-old Shang Juncheng, set the wheels in motion for a run at this year’s Roland Garros when he moved past former World No. 19 Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-4.

The #NextGenATP star struck 28 winners on the Parisian clay to advance after one hour and 16 minutes. Shang, who reached the second round of the main draw at the Australian Open on his Grand Slam debut in January, will next play Fabian Marozsan. The Hungarian, who defeated Carlos Alcaraz in Rome, moved past Australian Li Tu 6-3, 6-4.

Dominic Stricker, who competed at last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals, also moved on. The Swiss lefty eliminated Dutchman Jelle Sels 7-6(5), 6-3. The 20-year-old, currently eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race, has captured two ATP Challenger Tour titles this season. He will next meet Dalibor Svrcina after the Czech ousted Swiss Leandro Riedi 6-4, 6-4 in a battle of Next Gen ATP Finals contenders.

Spaniard Pedro Martinez beat Belgian Kimmer Coppejans 6-3, 6-1, while Argentine Facundo Bagnis downed Italian Luciano Darderi 6-3, 6-4. Martinez has made four main draw appearances at Roland Garros, where he reached the third round in 2020.

In other action, Giulio Zeppieri defeated former World No. 16 Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4, 6-1 and Jurij Rodionov overcame Brandon Holt 7-6(2), 6-4. The 2021 Next Gen ATP Finals competitor Juan Manuel Cerundolo beat Zachary Svajda 7-6(4), 6-3 and Zizou Bergs downed former World No. 21 Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-4.