R2: George 2-0 Mahesh – Auguste 2-1 Grégoire

[8] George Parker (ENG) 2-0 Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND)  11-3, 12-10 (28m)
Auguste Dussourd (FRA) 2-1 [2] Gregoire Marche (FRA)  11-6, 6-11, 11-0 (41m)

What the heck comes to mind.

No offence to Aguste, WR43, was not the favourite in this match, and when I was 8/1 on the scoreboard, I was whaaaaooooot? Grégoire seemed to recover by the end of the opener, “only” losing 11/6 in 9m, and was more assertive and patient in the second game.

Mind you, he was helped by an Auguste that didn’t seem to turn up on that second game, from 4/4, three unforced errors in a row, then penalised with a stroke, 8/4 Greg. At 8/5, the contender stepped into his opponent line, well spotted by the ref, another stroke. Not happy was Auguste, making his opinion very clear as he exited the court, being warned upon his return for descent. Grégoire, 11/6, 17m.

And then… WTH? Grégoire just kept tining the ball, leaving his opponent the whole control of the rallies. Only too happy, Auguste kept stringing the points, playing exquite winners, and that was 11/0 in 7m.

“My head is just not there at all. I trained well. But nothing is clicking  at the moment. Head not there”, commented Greg.

Auguste

“I feel great! After a victory, it always feels great. I was playing well tactically. At the start of the match, I was controlling the rallies and the pace, but then in the start of the second, I was 4-2 up and I completely changed.

“I started to attack from the back, to cross a lot in the middle, so many bad errors. I was forcing my shots and he took the lead. At the start of the third, I had to make zero mistakes. If he was going to beat me, then he had to win all 11 points.

“When I don’t make mistakes, I am tough to beat and that is what happened, I was consistent, hitting it tight, and I think at 6-0, he started to break a bit. I felt it and I pushed more, going to win it quite comfortably in the end. I am proud of the mental part, and to be consistent feels really good!”

As for Mahesh, God love him, he was up 9/2 in the second…

George

“I am still a bit rough from Qatar, really. That was my first hit with someone since then. I felt good to start with but then when I got into it, my technique.. I wasn’t hitting my corners right, but I was able to force him to hit a few errors. I think he got a bit tired towards the end as well, but it’s good to just get through and move into the next round.

“The stadium looks really good where it’s at and it’s always nice to play in front of a big crowd, so I am looking forward to that occasion.”