Gasquet in force, Gaston yields against Thiem, Paire abandons

Gasquet alone qualified

Richard Gasquet (64th in the world) qualified for the second round of the ATP 250 tournament on clay in Gstaad by beating Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena (88th) in two tight sets 7-5, 6-4 on Tuesday.

Gasquet had conceded the break at the start of each set against Roberto Carballes Baena, whom he beat for the third time in three confrontations. He had to fight to get out of this tricky first lap.

The Biterrois will face in the 2nd round the Italian Matteo Berrettini (15th), exempted from the 1st round and whose back-to-school tournament is after his withdrawal from Wimbledon because of a positive Covid test.

In their only confrontation to date, Berrettini had beaten Gasquet, in the 1st round of the US Open in 2019.

Gaston cracks against Thiem

A second round that Hugo Gaston (59th), victim of the Austrian Dominic Thiem, will not play. The former world No.3 today 274th beat the French left-hander 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (9/7), showing himself to be very solid on his serve in the last round.

Thiem, eliminated in the first round of the first seven tournaments he has played this year, passed this milestone in the last three, to even reach the quarter-finals in Bastad last week.

The embryo of a resurrection for the Austrian, after more than a year of hardships (wrist injury, covid…)?

pair give up

Benoît Paire, 92nd in the world, gave up on Tuesday in the first round of the ATP 250 tournament in Gstaad, Switzerland, when he was led 6-2, 2-0 by Swede Elias Ymer (131st).

The 33-year-old Frenchman has not reached the first round in a tournament since his victory over Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori in Geneva in May.

Before his retirement from Gstaad, he had four consecutive defeats as soon as he entered the competition, at Roland-Garros, Stuttgart, Milan (Challenger, retirement) and Wimbledon.