Heading into the 2020 French Open, literally not many people had heard of Hugo Gaston of France. The 20-year-old from Toulouse has only been out of his teens for six days. At Roland Garros, Gaston is only participating in his second career grand slam event in professional tennis after losing in the first round of the Australian Open in Melbourne in January by a score of 7-5, 5-7, 6-0, 6-3 to Jaume Munar of Spain.
However the last week, every French sports fan will now know Gaston’s name. On Friday, Gaston was simply magical. Despite being ranked 239th in the world, the man who is currently simply known as “Hugo”, became the talk of the French Open when he delivered one of the most memorable upsets ever in grand slam singles tennis history. In five compelling sets, Gaston beat Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.
The must stunning set was simply the fifth and deciding frame. Wawrinka seemed to have regained momentum after tying the match at two sets apiece. Instead, he had nothing left in the tank. Wawrinka was also extremely weak whenever he came to the net in the fifth and deciding set. He won four of 11 points when coming in, with many of his shots going right into the net.
To see Wawrinka only win 15 of 43 points in the set was also remarkable. We are not only talking about a three-time grand slam champion, but the 2015 French Open champion as well. Yes, Wawrinka was seeded 16th, but he is considered one of the game’s very best.
Now Gaston will have his work cut out for himself on Sunday when he faces the third-ranked Dominic Thiem of Austria, the reigning U.S. Open champion. But with many French men’s tennis stars such as Gael Monfils, Jeremy Chardy, Richard Gasquet, and Gilles Simon already eliminated, there is only one French men’s player left, and amazingly it is the reigning gold medalist from the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina–Hugo Gaston.
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