It is 8:17 p.m.
Standing, the thousand spectators of the Central shout their admiration and applaud the exit of the Central by Hugo Gaston.
Sitting on his chair, Dominic Thiem raises his thumb to greet the French gladiator.
At the end of an improbable and indecisive fight of five sets (6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3) and more than 3:30, the world n ° 3 finally came to the end of the surprise tricolor guest.
“It's been a long time since I had seen a player with so much touch, slips the Austrian, who remains on two semi-finals and two finals in Paris.
I am lucky to have won.
His amortizations seem to come from another planet
(Editor's note: he tried 55!)
.
If he continues like this, he will be a very, very big one and will fill that stage of happiness in the future.
"
Already author of a capital performance by defeating Stan Wawrinka in the previous round with a bicycle wheel in the last round, the Toulouse left-hander, 20 years old and 239th player in the world, made the winner of the last US Open tremble until the end.
Close to a hysterical feat.
Who could have believed in such resistance by being led two sets to nothing?
The closed roof of the Philippe-Chatrier court may have been hiding the sky, but a star was born this Sunday evening… “It didn't go far, breaths the magnificent loser of the day.
There is a bit of disappointment but a lot of pride.
I have no regrets because I go out with my head held high.
Seeing that we hold out against players like that for a long time makes you want to… ”
"I'm going to train to be even stronger"
The Blagnac player wields the racquet like a brush.
With finesse, accuracy and all you need for inspiration.
Magically seeming to always be placed in the right place on the easel.
Failed by the INSEP and a possible entry into the National Training Center (CNE) of the French federation because of his modest size (1.73 m), Gaston shows that the size does not necessarily make the height of the man .
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At the tennis club of Blagnac, we vibrated for Gaston, the child of the country
The gold medalist of the last Youth Olympic Games compensates with his mentality and above all a lot of physical work.
Before his refreshing Parisian epic, he had never played in five-set matches.
With intensive preparation in the days leading up to the tournament, he did two in two days.
Able to run for hours.
Galvanized by the support of stands he was discovering and which had just discovered him.
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“They helped me, pushed me,” he says.
Playing against grown-ups on long courts is the only way to give maximum experience.
“At the start of autumn, France discovered an incredible talent.
Can't wait for next spring to do it again!
"Now I'm going to enjoy, savor and go back to Challengers because it's my home run," he smiles.
The objective is to enter the Top 100 as quickly as possible
(Editor's note: it will rise to around 160th place)
.
I will train to be even stronger.
I hope that next year I will be in the table at Roland Garros without an invitation… ”