Gaston passes the Indian Wells qualifications with flying colors and enters the main draw

The only French player still in contention in the men's qualifying draw of the Indian Wells Masters 1000, Hugo Gaston, rose to the occasion.

After his opening victory against James Kent Trotter (6-2, 6-4), the 24-year-old Frenchman, ranked 93rd in the world, convincingly eliminated Eliot Spizzirri (6-0, 6-1) to secure a spot in the main draw.

In the first round, Hugo Gaston, who was eliminated in the first round of qualifying in California last year, will face Luciano Darderi, who was initially set to play Facundo Diaz Acosta, but the Argentine withdrew at the last minute due to an injury.

Among the other players who successfully navigated the qualifying hurdle, we notably find Pablo Carreño-Busta (who will face Quentin Halys before potentially meeting Carlos Alcaraz in the second round), Nikoloz Basilashvili (who will play against Marcos Giron), and Damir Dzumhur (who will be up against Roberto Bautista Agut).

On the other hand, other players such as Pavel Kotov, Botic van de Zandschulp, Cristian Garin, Gabriel Diallo, and Mikhail Kukushkin fell short in the night, just shy of the main draw.

At this time, only one player has been selected as a lucky loser, and that is Botic van de Zandschulp, who will face Nick Kyrgios for a spot in the second round.