. Van Assche yes, Son no

On Court N.14, that of the beautiful stories of Lucas Pouille and Fiona Ferro since the qualifications of this 2023 edition, Luca Van Assche, 19 years old since the beginning of May and entered the top 100 at the beginning of April, offered himself his very first victory in Grand Slam at the expense of the Italian Marco Cecchinato (72nd), dominated 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 in less than two hours.

"And 1, and 2, and 3, zero," sang the crowd to celebrate his success in three sets.

Arthur Fils (63rd), the other French hope born in 2004, freshly winner of his first tournament on the ATP circuit in Lyon on Saturday, did not have the same success: despite a good resistance after a more than delicate start, he lost 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 against the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich, 34th in the world, on the Simonne-Mathieu court.

What if Van Assche avenged him? It is now he who will attack Davidovich in the second round.

If both appear for the first time in the main draw, Van Assche as Son are not quite newcomers to Roland-Garros, since the first had won the junior tournament in 2021 at the expense of the second.

Alexandre Muller is opposed in the evening to the world N.9 Jannik Sinner on the Centre Court.

. Garcia suffers

World N.5 and best French chance of this 2023 edition, Garcia experienced the worst difficulties for her entry on the track: the 29-year-old Lyonnaise fought for more than two and a half hours to overcome the Chinese Xiyu Wang (64th) 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-4.

France's Caroline Garcia faces China's Wang Xiyu, on May 29, 2023 at Roland-Garros © Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP

"I tried to have the right attitude, to always be positive, to find solutions as I went along. I managed to maintain that attitude when it hadn't been the case in recent weeks, it's a super positive point," she said, after going through the obviously tense match.

Back in the top 5 thanks to a hair-raising second half of the 2022 season, punctuated by her first Grand Slam semifinal, at the US Open, and a triumph at the Masters at the end of the season, Garcia herself admits to having "lost" the confidence that inhabited her in 2023.

In the second round, the French N.1 will face Russia's Anna Blinkova (56th).

Kristina Mladenovic, who fell to 166th in the world and was invited, sank 7-5, 6-1 against American qualifier Kayla Day.

. Pair cracks

Opposed to the world N.13 Cameron Norrie, Benoît Paire believed in the feat, like the noisy public of the court Suzanne-Lenglen, bathed in sunshine and animated by olas and Marseillaise over the more than three and a half hours of match: in the fifth set, the 34-year-old Frenchman, 149th in the world and beneficiary of an invitation, led 4 games to 2 before cracking. He eventually lost 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.

"Why is it stuck? (...) I don't have a reason. If I had it, it would be easier... It's the stress, it's the fact that I'm at +Roland+, that I want to do well. Maybe I think too much... I can't help but think. Maybe you have to be a little silly sometimes to play tennis. For me, in those moments it's difficult. I ask myself questions, I change a little my way of playing, of serving, "he tries to explain.

Paire missed a reunion with Lucas Pouille in the second round. He hasn't won a match at Roland Garros since 2020.

© 2023 AFP