Jacquet savors his first ATP victory in Metz: "I had a very good attitude throughout the match"
Selected as a lucky loser after his defeat in the qualifying rounds, Kyrian Jacquet eliminated his compatriot Luca Van Assche this Tuesday in the first round of the Metz tournament.
Jacquet can finally enjoy his first success on the ATP tour. The 24-year-old Frenchman, ranked 156th in the world, was beaten in the qualifying rounds of the Metz tournament this weekend by Jan Choinski, but he was later entered into the main draw as a lucky loser.
On court this Tuesday against his compatriot Luca Van Assche, Jacquet won the first match of his career on the main tour (4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 2h27). He will thus face Dan Added for a place in the quarter-finals and savored this victory against Van Assche.
"I am very happy, especially to win this match. Even if it had been a qualifying match or anything else, I would have been just as happy. So obviously, there are factors that come into play.
There's more money, there are more points. So that, for sure, when you think about it afterwards, it's more interesting. Above all, I had a very good attitude, a very good level of play throughout the match. I managed to be stable. That was the goal I had with my coach (Stéphane Robert).
We were both so tense the whole match, because we were both playing really well, that it came down to a few points. Today, I was the one who came out on top. But it could very well have been him. I am very happy that I held on. It's true that in Metz, many players withdrew because the season is very long and very tough.
For guys like us, these are opportunities. In any case, I try to take everything I can get. Obviously, it doesn't mean we can't beat those guys, but it's certainly better to play against Dan (Added) in the second round of an ATP 250 than to play against Auger-Aliassime (who withdrew on Monday). These are opportunities, and I will try to accumulate as much as possible.
I had a very difficult period after Roland Garros. With a lot of soul-searching, a lot of sadness, very little confidence... That lost match after leading two sets to love (against Borges) really affected me. It lasted a long time too, until I went to China at the end of September. I told myself that I had missed a golden opportunity.
I knew that Ruud was injured (Borges beat him 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0 in the next round), that it could potentially have been a third round in a Grand Slam, with all that entails: visibility, sponsors, money, everything... I felt like it wouldn't happen again," he stated for L'Équipe.
