Henrique Rocha reported the first on the main setting of a great home tournament unforgettably: he played five sets For the first time in his career and won the end of four hours of intense play with the most experienced Nikoloz Basilashvili, also coming from qualification. At the time of truth, Rocha was the strongest and was found for the second round of the Roland-Garros tournament.
Rocha (200th in the ranking) won the first and third sets No equality And it was physically and mentally imposed at the start decisive in Basilashvili (133), to win the court of 7-6 (7/07), 2-6 and 7-6 (11/9), 2-6 and 6-2. “There were a lot of ups and downs, I played very well. I had some advice from the people around me in my first match at the best of five setsI think I knew how to manage these moments. He also had them and we took this advantage of each other. I have already felt it below the room together And I started to transport more and fifth together I found myself on the top. But above all, I launched a point point and focused on what was going to happen and became physically stronger, “said Rocha.
The second duel between them – the previous one was in March of last year, in the final of the Challenger of Murcia, won by Rocha – started with a to break On each side, but the Portuguese tennis player won ascending, before Basilashvili, former 33rd classification, increasing the level of play. Consequently, the third match turned out to be crucial; Rocha saved four pay the points (Two of them in equality) Before ending on the third opportunity and moving forward.
No fifth togetherRocha advanced with a to break In the fourth match (3-1). And while Georgian increased the number of vacation pairs (nine in total), the tennis player Luso increased the effectiveness of the service in the decisive match: four points provided in so many service games and four ways.
In the second round, Thursday, Henrique Rocha faces the Czech Jakub Mensik (19th), one of the 2024 revelations, which began to classify in the Top 100 and ended, in terms of majorsWith the defeat against Nuno Borges in the third round of the US Open, after having three correspondence points. This year, Mensik won the first title at ATP Tour and soon Masters 1000 in Miami, after defeating Taylor Fritz (4th) and Novak Djokovic (5th).
“Above all, it serves very well, better than Basilashvili, also plays very strongly, something that I can already be fixed with this tour. I have never played with it or in the juniors, but we have already crossed various tournaments. I have to focus mainly on recovery,” said Rocha.
This Wednesday, the Tour of Nuno Borges (41st) is competing in the second round against the renowned Ruud Casper, the current eighth in the world ranking.
Tuesday’s trip was also marked by the beginnings of Novak Djokovic in the French tournament. Known of the 100th career title on Saturday in Geneva, the Serbian beat Mackenzie McDonald (98th), with a triple 6-3.
At the end of the afternoon, court no. 7 was too small for the fans to see the Brazilian João Fonseca (65) who, in the first presence at Roland-Garros, rocked Hubert Hurkacz (30th), finalist in Geneva, three sets: 6-2, 6-4 and 6-2. The second round promises a battle of cheerleader, while the tennis player of Rio de Janeiro, 18, will face an opponent of the house, Pierre-Huugues Herbert (147).
