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It passes: Barrère

"I could say that I won in 5 sets at Roland-Garros at least once!" Said Grégoire Barrère, 209th in the world, after beating the Japanese Taro Daniel (105th) 3-6, 6-2 , 0-6, 6-3, 6-4.

"I did not necessarily expect, 3 weeks ago, to be in Roland's table", admitted the 28-year-old Frenchman who benefited from a wild card thanks to his final at the Challenger d'Aix-en -Provence on May 8.

On the semi-buried court N.14, supported by crowded and noisy bleachers, the Frenchman managed the decisive break quickly enough to lead 2-1 in the final set.

A few minutes later, he dropped his racquet of happiness before going to greet his opponent of the day.

"The public was boiling hot as soon as they entered the court. It was really nice", he savored.

"Inevitably, when he chants your name, when he sings the Marseillaise, you have a little thrill. It gives you more energy. In important moments, it helps you to commit more, to seek the points, and not necessarily to remember and wait for the fault", he added.

Barrère plays for the 6th time the main draw of the Major on clay.

He had so far only reached the second round once, in 2019, when he lost to Russian Aslan Karatsev.

This time, he will face to try to climb to the 3rd round Isner (26th), the great American server who dismissed Halys.

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It breaks: Halys, Burel, Tan, Mladenovic and Monnet

Quentin Halys (86th) ended up cracking after resisting the giant John Isner (26th) who won 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (8/6).

Quentin Halys facing the American John Isner at Roland-Garros, May 22, 2022 Thomas SAMSON AFP

"I'm very disappointed because I think I had a good game. He played very well too. I certainly had a lot of chances, but I didn't manage the tie-breaks as well, that's what made the difference at the end", commented the 25-year-old Frenchman who saved 3 match points before losing on the fourth.

"He made 92% of first balls on the 3 tie-breaks. As soon as I lost my point of service, behind it was extremely hard to take one back", he underlined.

Harmony Tan (106th) led 4-2 in the first set before being beaten by Colombian Camila Osorio (66th) 6-4, 6-3.

"She raised her level of play. At the beginning, she was a little more timid on the balls. She started in the middle of the set to relax more. In any case, she played very well today", commented the 24-year-old Frenchwoman.

The task was extremely difficult, on paper, for Clara Burel against last year's semi-finalist and world No. 3 Maria Sakkari.

The Habs actually lost 6-2, 6-3, but they firmly defended their chances on the Central, more than the severity of the score suggests.

Ditto for guest Carole Monnet (253rd) who logically lost 6-3, 6-3 to Karolina Muchova (81st) but forced the Czech to play for 1h48.

As for Kristina Mladenovic (107th), she was eliminated 6-0, 7-5 by the Canadian Leylah Fernandez (18th), finalist of the last US Open.

Kristina Mladenovic in her first round match lost against Canadian Leylah Fernandez on May 22, 2022 at Roland-Garros Thomas SAMSON AFP

Totally overwhelmed in the first set, Mladenovic (29) looked like she could turn the game around when she in turn went 3-0 in the second set with a double break.

She then broke away 5-3 and had two set points on her serve at 5-4.

But it was ultimately the 19-year-old Canadian who lined up four games in a row to win the match by taking advantage of a double fault from Mladenovic on match point.

© 2022 AFP