Pouille Takes Battle of Frenchmen In Paris

In a battle of Frenchmen, Lucas Pouille again got the better of Julien Benneteau, coming back from two-sets-to-one down to win 7-6(6), 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in three hours and 21 minutes on Sunday at Roland Garros.

“I knew he was going to put a lot of pressure on me. I knew he was going to try and play short balls because he didn’t want to play a long match of long balls, because physically he was not ready for that. I knew it was going to be a tough match,” Pouille said.

The 23-year-old Pouille had also beaten his compatriot last year to start their home Grand Slam tournament, but, during their match on Sunday, the 35-year-old Benneteau converted his lone break point in the third set to gain a two-sets-to-one lead.

Pouille, however, climbed back into the first-round contest, hitting 23 winners and breaking Benneteau three times in the final two sets to advance. A total of 19 Frenchmen started in the main draw, the most since 2014, when there also were 19.

“I’m disappointed, obviously, but at the same time I’m quite proud because I did as much as I can,” said Benneteau, who was playing in his 15^th Roland Garros. “In a match like that, so many things can happen. It’s five sets. Especially on clay, so much can happen.”

The 16th-seeded Pouille will meet Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci in the second round. The Brazilian beat Serbian Dusan Lajovic 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. Pouille has reached the second round in Paris three times, but never farther.

“I know him well. We practised together. We trained. He’s a good left-handed player. He hits hard. He has a lot of spin on his ball,” Pouille said. “I know it’s going to be a tough one. I know I will have to be very present on the court, and I will have to play better than today, hit harder, with more intensity. I will try to do so from the very beginning of the match.” 

Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas ran away with his first-round match, dismissing Romanian Marius Copil 6-7(7), 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in just over three hours. The 19th-seeded Ramos-Vinolas, who reached the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters final (l. to Nadal) last month, hit 35 winners and benefitted from 68 unforced errors from the 26-year-old Copil.

The Spaniard will meet 20-year-old Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, who won his tour-level debut when #NextGenATP Russian Daniil Medvedev retired because of cramps down 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, 3-1.

In other action, American Tennys Sandgren fell in his Grand Slam debut 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 against Kazhakstan veteran Mikahil Kukushkin. Dutchman Robin Haase won 10/11 points at the net to prevail against #NextGenATP Australian Alex de Minaur 6-2, 6-3, 6-1. The 18-year-old de Minaur won his first Grand Slam match at the Australian Open earlier this year.

Go inside the tournament at RolandGarros.com.