They were eight tricolor players or pairs this Thursday on the courts of Orleans in the Round of 16.
Eight players or pairs who were trying to qualify for the quarter-finals. And with five qualifiers, the balance is rather good, even very good.
The first to join the roller coaster was the mixed Audrey Fontaine / Ronan Labar, author of a very great match against the Danish Boje / Fischer Nielsen. Winners at the end of the suspense and in a very nice atmosphere. The French are now favorites for the victory of this mixed doubles draw. They will face the German qualifiers Konon / Kaesbauer on Friday.
They were then joined by Lucas Claerbout, brilliant against the 2016 winner Emil Holst, the women's doubles E. Lefel / A. Tran and the regulars Léa Palermo / Delphine Delrue. These two pairs will not have an easy time in the quarter-finals. Whereas for Lucas, the draw has opened well. The German Alexander Roovers, should, barring surprises, not be an insurmountable obstacle for the Frenchman.
In the evening, Lucas Corvée, unfortunately failed to join them by losing at the end of the night to Nhat Nguyen, the very young Irish, n°3 in the world in the junior category.
As for the favourites, Jan O Jorgensen, still trembled, unlike Sameer Verma, easy winner of Thomas Rouxel.
The Stoeva sisters, also made their debut in the Sports Palace, and showed that they would be very difficult to win in the women's doubles. In singles, note the qualification of the very Francophile Chinese Qi XueFei, who fell to the Bulgarian Linda Zetchiri, for the greatest performance of her young European career.
See you at 5pm this Friday for the quarter-finals!
