Herbert secures his first victory at Roland-Garros since 2020 against Bonzi

On Court 13, the all-French clash between Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Benjamin Bonzi lived up to all its promises. The two men know each other well and have already faced off five times.

Before this encounter, Bonzi had never lost to his opponent of the day. The match was tight until the end, and the two French players offered a great show and suspense. Bonzi came within one game of victory in the fourth set, but Herbert hung on and, trailing two sets to one, finally found the way to beat his nemesis.

Aided by his 62 winners (including 11 aces), P2H, as he is nicknamed, finally won (7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in 3h27 of play). The 34-year-old player wins his first main draw match at Roland-Garros since 2020.

At the time, he had dominated Michael Mmoh in three sets before falling against Alexander Zverev in the second round. In 2021, he lost in the first round to Jannik Sinner, and last year, he faced Novak Djokovic. In 2022 and 2023, he failed to pass the first round of qualifications.

Herbert, now ranked 147th in the world, earns himself a second-round gala and will face the winner of the promising match between Hubert Hurkacz and João Fonseca.