Paris (AFP)

The last French competitor at Roland Garros, Hugo Gaston, 20 years since Saturday, tackles the first peak of his young career on Friday against Stan Wawrinka for a place in the round of 16.

The type to keep his inner joy rather than indulge in effusions, Gaston welcomed his qualification for his very first 3rd round in a Grand Slam on Wednesday with his fists shyly clenched, then his face discreetly buried in his briefcase.

Accustomed to the Challenger circuit, the second division of world tennis, the small left-hander from Toulouse had however only met twice on the main circuit before this 2020 edition of Roland-Garros, for as many defeats.

The first in Marseille in 2018, against the Italian Stefano Travaglia, the second at the Australian Open in January, against the Spaniard Jaume Munar.

The 239th player in the world was however able to take full advantage of the invitation offered by the French Tennis Federation (FFT): he successively got rid of his compatriot Maxime Janvier in the first round (7-6 (7/5), 6 -4, 6-3), then the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka, ranked at the gates of the top 50, in second (6-4, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2).

A much steeper mountain now stands in front of him with Wawrinka, triple Grand Slam winner (Australian Open 2014, Roland-Garros 2015 and US Open 2016) and still finalist Porte d'Auteuil in 2017.

"I remember when he won here. I watched the final and it was very inspiring," recalls Gaston, not yet fifteen at the time.

"Stan, he's a great champion. I have a lot of respect for him. But when I go on the field, I'll do everything to win," he promises.

"I know it's going to be a tough game but I'm going to try to give the maximum, to have fun, to enjoy, with the desire to try to win."

- "Not the template to make three aces per game" -

Beyond his record, "playing Stan now is not easy. The conditions really favor Stan, who can release his big shots. And with these balls that do not advance, a little soft, he has the strength. with his size and his punching power to move Hugo and hurt him ", analyzes Benoît Paire, a great friend of the Swiss with whom he shared multiple aperitifs noticed on social networks during confinement.

With his modest 1.73 m, Gaston, who has the particularity of not bouncing his ball before serving, says it himself, "I do not have the template to make three aces per game".

It is on a creative and varied game that the young Toulousain coached by Marc Barbier is betting, like the many well-felt cushionings distilled against Nishioka, or even his winning backhand passing dropped on the match point against the Japanese. .

As for being the last French representative in the men's table, the ex-N.2 world juniors and gold medalist at the Youth Olympic Games in 2018 in Buenos Aires, where he had assumed the role of porter- Drapeau, apprehends him again very calmly.

"I'm not going to put extra pressure on myself because I'm the last Frenchman. I'm concentrating on what I can do, on what I know how to do," replied Gaston.

“I'm still pretty cool about it and pretty distant,” he continues.

His pretty Parisian career will allow him in any case to climb among the 200 best players in the world.

A first step in its ascent.

© 2020 AFP