Lucas Pouille won his first main tour match of 2022, beating the tournament's No. 6 seed, Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands, in three sets 7-5 3-6 6-1 (2:17).
It could have gone badly. In the first set, the Frenchman was one break behind and trailed 5-3. It was during this interminable game that Lucas managed to regain the upper hand, breaking at the end of the 6th opportunity. He then went on to win three consecutive games to take the first set 7-5. The effort made by Lucas Pouille to take the lead in the first set probably caused him to concede his serve in the second game of the second set. A break was enough for the Dutchman, thanks to his well-controlled service games, to equalise at 1 set all.
But it was Lucas Pouille who started the third and final set on serve. With his battery fully charged, the two-time finalist of the Open 13 Provence in 2017 and 2018 got back into the match and not just a little. He suffocated his opponent, thanks in particular to a first game that did damage (12 aces, 76% points won after the first). The Frenchman, who was awarded a wild card for this 30th edition, quickly found himself far ahead, at 5-0. On the next return game, Pouille tries to win some returns, either to finish the match or to save his energy for his service game to follow. Bingo, this one is won with a blank, concluded with an ace.
His opponent in the second round will be Moldovan Radu Albot, 97th in the world. A victory and the doors to the quarter-finals would open for the "Ch'ti". That was the objective announced on the court at the end of the match. And that's all we wish him.
