Hugo Gaston, 83rd in the world and who had brilliantly reached the quarter-finals last year, was eliminated on Saturday in the first qualifying round of the Paris Masters 1000 by the Swiss Marc-Andrea Huesler (62nd) 6-3, 3- 6, 7-6 (7/5).
The 22-year-old Toulousain saved five match points to clinch the tie-break in the deciding set, but ultimately lost.
Last year, Gaston passed the two qualifying rounds and then notably beat the Spaniards Pablo Carreno and Carlos Alcaraz before falling to world No.2 Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals.
Despite this career, he did not benefit from an invitation this year to directly integrate the main draw of the last Masters 1000 of the year.
A logical outcome as the Frenchman has not obtained any convincing results this season on the main circuit apart from a 3rd round at Roland-Garros in the spring.
Gaston, who will end the year beyond the 130th place in the world, will no longer have a place in the Grand Slam tables next year.
He will have to whip to come back.
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Masters 1000 Paris-Bercy
Hugo Gaston