Video - The day the Bercy crowd broke Alcaraz against Gaston in 2021
In 2021, Carlos Alcaraz, then a rising star in world tennis, was competing in the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000 for the very first time in his career.
At just 18 years old, the Spaniard, who had won his first tournament at the ATP 250 in Umag against Richard Gasquet a few months earlier, had managed to reach the third round after victories against Pierre-Hugues Herbert (6-7, 7-6, 7-5) and Jannik Sinner (7-6, 7-5). At the time, this was Alcaraz's first challenge against the Italian on the main tour.
In the round of 16, Alcaraz faced Hugo Gaston in a night session on the Center Court. The Frenchman, known for elevating his game in tournaments played in his home country, had come through the qualifying rounds (with wins against Kevin Anderson and Lorenzo Musetti) before defeating Arthur Rinderknech and Pablo Carreño Busta in the main draw.
In a fiery atmosphere, fueled by a passionate crowd, Gaston managed to outmaneuver Alcaraz. After winning the first set, the Frenchman thought he could unsettle the young Spanish player, but Alcaraz responded perfectly in the second set, even leading 5-0.
That's when the spectators didn't hesitate to rally behind the left-hander from Toulouse. Despite being down a double break, Gaston, buoyed by the crowd's support, slowly but surely fought his way back into the second set.
Unable to react and completely destabilized by the sometimes borderline behavior of the spectators towards him, Alcaraz became completely tense and eventually broke down in his chair (see video below).
Gaston won the last seven games of the match to secure victory in two sets (6-4, 7-5 in 1 hour and 43 minutes). The Frenchman would ultimately be eliminated in the quarterfinals by Daniil Medvedev (7-6, 6-4), while Alcaraz went on to win the Next Gen ATP Finals just a few days later.
The year 2022 would be one of confirmation for him: his first Masters 1000 titles (Miami, Madrid), his first Grand Slam (US Open), and most notably, reaching the top of the ATP rankings after the tournament in New York. That achievement made him the youngest world number one in history at the time.
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