French players Hugo Gaston and Grégoire Barrère advance in the first round of the Madrid Masters 1000 tournament.

The step was probably too high for Jérémy Chardy. Absent since his elimination in the second round of the Australian Open by Daniel Evans in order to preserve a knee operated on last spring for Roland-Garros, the one who now points to 635th place in the world has not made the most of his protected classification. Indeed, the native of Pau lost as soon as he entered the running against his compatriot Hugo Gaston, beneficiary of an invitation. The 106th player in the world wasted no time with the break acquired with authority from the conclusion of the first game. Therefore, neither of the two Habs was put in great difficulty on his service. However, when serving to stay in the set, Jérémy Chardy once again gave in. On the second occasion to conclude the first moto, Hugo Gaston took the lead. The Toulousain applied almost the same recipe at the start of the second set, with the break obtained as soon as the opportunity arose, that is to say at the end of the second game.

After confirming this advantage thanks to a white winning entry, Hugo Gaston saw Jérémy Chardy recover and find the rhythm. This resulted in a break in the often crucial seventh game. However, the Béarnais only initiated a sequence of four games all completed on a break. What made the game of Hugo Gaston who, on the first match point on the service of his opponent, sealed the fate of the match (6-3, 6-4 in 1h13 ‘). Borna Coric, seeded number 17, will be his opponent in the second round.

Barrère passes the Nava obstacle

Grégoire Barrère also passed the first round at the Caja Magica. Opposed to the American guest Emilio Nava, the 56th in the world needed three rounds to win after starting the meeting with a bang. Conceding only one point on his face-off, the Habs tormented Emilio Nava when it was his turn to engage. Converting three of his four break points, Grégoire Barrère was a real lone rider in a one-way first round and concluded in 19 short minutes. Undoubtedly upset by such a scenario, the American regained the upper hand and offered the French a real opposition.

Indeed, the 173rd in the world was much less in the hard service but without however putting the native of Charenton-le-Pont in difficulty on his own. However, as the tiebreak approached, the situation changed. On his first break point of the match, Emilio Nava surprised Grégoire Barrère and took his serve. Engaging in stride to completely relaunch the meeting, the American did not miss the opportunity. The first set point was the right one, allowing him to snatch an unexpected third set given the scenario of the first. If the two players competed in the first games, it was very quickly Grégoire Barrère who took the lead. After missing their first two break points, the Habs won their case, leading four games to one.

If he missed a double break opportunity, Grégoire Barrère did not tremble when concluding with a final shutout (6-0, 5-7, 6-3 in 1h43 ‘) and join Grigor Dimitrov, seeded number 26.