Kyrian Jacquet beat Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry, world No. 30, in the quarter-finals of the Hangzhou 250. The 25-year-old Frenchman will enter the top 100 for the first time when the tournament ends. Next up: Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan, world No. 59, for a place in the semi-finals.
In comments carried by L’Equipe, he said it had been “starting to annoy him a bit not to have a significant win against top players,” recalling his two match points against Alexander Blockx, then world No. 38, in Estoril, and his 6-4 third-set loss to Cameron Norrie in Metz.
Maxime, our intern, took out his notebook on the 7:32 train in.
Silly question, but from which ranking does someone become a “top player”? No. 38, apparently, already counted as a big scalp. No. 30 is a “top 30”. This guy is about to enter the top 100, so technically he becomes a top player for anyone ranked 101 or below. I asked the newsroom where the line is. Jean-Pol said 50, “and I’m being generous.” Céline said it all depends on the stringing. I checked, and actually nobody knows.
Also, he says he “wasn’t far” before: two match points against Blockx, a 6-4 third set against Norrie. So in tennis, you can be two points away from winning and still go home with nothing. I wrote that down twice, just to be sure. Anyway, I still have a lot to learn.
The player settled the question his own way: “Today (Friday), I told myself: ‘This is the moment, you’re not going to wait your whole life, you have to go and get it yourself.’” He now faces Fabian Marozsan, world No. 59, for a place in the semi-finals.
It’s true, we checked: We Love Tennis.
