Lucas Pouille got scared. The Frenchman managed to overthrow Austrian Jurij Rodionov after losing the first leg 6-1. Fallen to 670th place in the world in the ATP rankings, Pouille has thus won his place for the main draw which will begin on Sunday on the clay courts of the Porte d’Auteuil.
After seasons of physical and psychological struggle, Lucas Pouille, who fell to 670th in the world, pulled himself out of qualifying to earn a place in the main draw at Roland-Garros by overthrowing the Austrian Jurij Rodionov (134th) 1-6 , 7-5, 6-0 in the third round on Thursday. The emotion was so strong at the end of the match that Pouille was overtaken by tears on his chair, like his wife Clémence in the stands of court 14.
At the start of the match, and despite the still unconditional support of the Parisian public, Pouille was overwhelmed: he did not win his face-off once in the first set. In the second, he balanced the debates and even managed the break to lead 5 games to 3. He then served to equalize at one set everywhere, but could not prevent Rodionov from unbreaking. The Austrian nevertheless gave up the set on a completely failed last service game with three consecutive double faults, including one on the set point. Pouille then went it alone in the deciding set to win in two hours flat. A victory synonymous with a place in the main draw, the draw of which was carried out at the start of the afternoon.
Coming out of the dark years
At 29, the Frenchman, ex-top 10, is trying to regain his best level after dark years (injuries and depression) which saw him plunge into the depths of the rankings. He received an invitation to take part in the qualifications for Roland-Garros. A semi-finalist at the 2019 Australian Open, Pouille has not passed the first round of a Grand Slam tournament since his defeat in the second round of the 2019 US Open.
He has not won a match on the ATP Tour since his defeat in the second round of the Masters 1000 in Madrid in May 2022 and this year he had played until then only on the Challenger circuit where he won only three matches for four losses.