"I knew I had nothing to lose," Blanchet savors his victory against Mensik in the second round of the US Open
Ugo Blanchet is one of the great stories of this early stage of the US Open. Coming through the qualifiers, the Frenchman eliminated Fabian Marozsan (6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2) in the first round, before confirming his form against Jakub Mensik, a seeded player and this season's Miami Masters 1000 champion, in a nail-biting match (6-7, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 in 4h23).
The Frenchman will face another Czech player, Tomas Machac, in the next round. Meanwhile, the 26-year-old player, ranked 184th in the world this week, reacted to this success against a member of the world's top 20.
"That was pretty intense! Playing here at the US Open, a super tie-break in the fifth set... We all dream, when we start playing tennis, of playing matches like that. There are still higher levels to reach, but this is already pretty good. I played a really strong super tie-break.
I was ahead almost the whole time, even though my two double faults stung a bit. After 4 hours and 15 minutes of play, you really feel the ball! You control it. I had to focus on my strengths—my forehand, my first serve, my aggressiveness on the second ball.
I'm happy that it went more or less as planned. Of course, I came into the match with a lot of satisfaction from what had happened over the past ten days. I knew I had nothing to lose, that it was going to be a great match against a top player.
I believed in myself, I knew it was possible. I've always believed in my qualities. There are moments of doubt, but I knew I had what it takes to play in these kinds of tournaments. I was just waiting for the moment to prove it.
There's a bit of surprise, but in my emotions—you can see it on the court—it's controlled, there's no euphoria. My level is very good, but I know I can play even better. I'm capable of playing even better tennis," he assured L'Équipe in recent hours after his qualification.
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