Adrian Mannarino and Benjamin Bonzi qualified for the third round, Hugo Gaston eliminated

The French Benjamin Bonzi and Adrian Mannarino qualified on Wednesday August 30 for the third round of the US Open. Hugo Gaston was eliminated. The unexpected Titouan Droguet can still climb to the third round on Wednesday.

In total, eight of the twenty-four French registered in the main tables men and women passed to the second round. Four played on Wednesday and the other four (Gaël Monfils, Arthur Fils, Arthur Rinderknech and Clara Burel) will play on Thursday.

French number 2, Adrian Mannarino, 35ᵉ in the ATP ranking, overcame Hungarian Fabian Marozsan (92ᵉ) – 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1. This qualification for the third round allows him to equal his best result at Flushing Meadows. Among the three French seeds in the men’s and women’s tables, Mannarino is the only one to pass the first two rounds, after the elimination on Tuesday of Ugo Humbert and Caroline Garcia.

After a difficult start to the match, the Frenchman, a fan of long exchanges, managed to settle his game against the Hungarian, who began to commit a lot of unforced errors (29 in the second and third sets). Little by little, Marozsan let himself be locked into Mannarino’s game patterns, precise on his forehand and his backhand.

In the fourth set, the French even entertained the public with several brilliant shots, including a reflex strike between the legs at the end of the race, before winning the exchange, under the bravos.

At 35, he will try to reach the knockout stages of the American Major for the first time by facing the American Frances Tiafoe (10ᵉ), semi-finalist last year, or the Austrian Sebastian Ofner (58ᵉ).

In the 3rd round, Bonzi against Stricker

Benjamin Bonzi, 108ᵉ player in the ATP ranking, triumphed over American Chris Eubanks (30ᵉ), seeded number 28, 7-6 (8/6), 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (9/7). A victory that already gives him his best result at the US Open, where he reached the second round last year.

In difficult conditions, with a noisy American public and entirely committed to the cause of Eubanks, the 27-year-old from Nîmes showed composure, in particular on a passing-shot from behind which allowed him to win the first set.

After quickly giving up the second set, the Frenchman took advantage of Eubanks’ slowdown on his serve, with 3 double faults and a weakness on the second ball. In the fourth set, Eubanks seemed to lack momentum, committing 24 unforced errors in that set alone. Bonzi nevertheless needed a decisive game and three match points to conclude, after a very feverish end to the match.

In the third round, the Frenchman will face the Swiss surprise Dominic Stricker, another seed cutter, who offered the seventh player in the world, Stefanos Tsitsipas, in the second round.

Still on the French side, luck did not smile on Hugo Gaston, however. The 99th player in the world was beaten by Serbian Laslo Djere (number 38), 6-1, 6-2, 6-3.

Winner of two Challenger tournaments in July (Iasi and Trieste), the Toulousain struggled the whole match against the powerful baseline game of the Serb. The Frenchman looked to force fate at the net, earning 25 points on climbs, but he also committed 29 unforced errors.

In the third round, Laslo Djere, seeded number 32, will cross swords with his compatriot Novak Djokovic, winner of the Spaniard Bernabé Zapata Miralles (6-4, 6-1, 6-1).

Caroline Garcia renounces the double

Outgoing semi-finalist, Caroline Garcia, eliminated in the first round of the US Open on Tuesday, explained on Wednesday that she was affected by a bereavement in her family which also forced her to give up the double. “These last two days have been very difficult for our family. My grandmother left us on Monday afternoon”writes the 29-year-old Lyonnaise on social networks.

“I couldn’t show up yesterday. [mardi] in [conférence] press after my defeat, the emotions were too great », she adds. At the end of a match where she had actually appeared next to the subject, Garcia was absent at the press briefing, however compulsory. No explanation was then given.

“My heart needs to be with my loved ones to say a last goodbye to my grandmother, which is why I will not be able to present myself in doubles with Kristina [Mladenovic] on this tournamentsays the player. “There is a time for everything in life. Tennis today is secondary”she concludes.