The young Frenchman
Arthur Cazaux
, invited to the tournament, continues his feat at the
Australian Open
after passing over the Dutchman
Tallon Griekspoor
(6-3, 6-3 and 6-1) in the third round of the first Grand Slam of the year.
His rival in the round of 16 will be the Polish
Hubert Hurkacz
(9), who beat another Frenchman, Ugo Humbert (21) by 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) and 6-3, after two hours and 46 minutes of play.
The young man from Montpellier, 21 years old, made it to the round of 16 of a major tournament for the first time in his career and became the 40th tennis player to qualify for the round of 16 of a major after entering to the final box with an invitation.
In fact, Arthur had won only one match on the circuit, in May 2021, when he beat his compatriot Adrian Mannarino.
Five losses followed, two in 2021 and three last year.
His arrival in Melbourne was thanks to an agreement with the French Tennis Federation.
It had been six years since a wild card player had made the top 16 in Australia.
Since the Uzbek
Denis Istomin
achieved a fourth round in 2017, only five guests have achieved the same in Grand Slams: the French Hugo Gaston (Roland Garros, 2020), the American Jenson Brooksby (US Open, 2021), the Dutch Tim van Rijthoven (Wimbledon, 2022) and Australian Rinky Hijikata (US Open, 2023).
Arthur Cazaux's reaction after his great game against Griekspoor.
Photo: EFE/EPA/MAST IRHAM.
Cazaux also became
the eighth player
to reach the last 16 on the banks of the Yarra River as a guest, joining Pat du Pre (1981), Tomas Smid (1983), Jason Stoltenberg (1988), Simon Youl (1990), Mats Wilander (1994), Lleyton Hewitt (2012) and Istomin (2017).
In previous rounds, the Frenchman beat the Serbian Laslo Djere (6-2, 6-7(3), 6-2, 3-6 and 6-2) and the Dane Holger Rune (8) (7-6(4) , 6-4, 4-6 and 6-3).
The young man will have the opportunity to find a place among the eight best tennis players in the competition, which would be equivalent to a ticket to the quarterfinals, in what will be an unprecedented duel this Monday against the Polish Hurkacz.
Source: EFE