Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/1320673
ITF World Winter 2020 29 " PLAYING IN PARIS IS ALWAYS MAGIC AND A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE SENT ME MESSAGES SINCE. IT IS NICE TO RECEIVE THESE MESSAGES AND I WILL KEEP ONLY GOOD MEMORIES FROM ROLAND GARROS. " Toulouse-born Hugo Gaston arrived at Roland Garros in September as a relative unknown but departed to much fanfare and with a new-found and well-deserved standing following a breathtaking performance on the Grand Slam stage. The 20-year-old had lost his only previous Tour-level match, at the Australian Open in January, but rose to the occasion in Paris, reaching the round of 16 with a series of swashbuckling displays. Wild card Gaston dispatched three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka to become the lowest-ranked player to reach the fourth round of the men's singles at Roland Garros since fellow Frenchman Arnaud di Pasquale in 2002. Displaying a lethal cocktail of drop shots and lobs, the left-hander then proceeded to go the distance with recently crowned US Open champion Dominic Thiem, only to fall short in the final set of a nail-biting encounter. Despite defeat, Gaston, who started playing tennis at the age of two at a Toulouse tennis club where his father Thierry was president, had announced himself and jumped more than 70 places in the world rankings to a career-best No. 157. While his Roland Garros showing might have surprised some, the Frenchman, like many before him, did not simply appear from nowhere without a grounding centred on hard work and a solid foundation long in the making. Gaston showed immense promise at junior level, winning prestigious titles at the Grade A Orange Bowl towards the end of 2017 before finishing the following year ranked No. 2 in the boys' rankings having risen to national prominence. Nominated as France's flagbearer, Gaston went on to top the podium in the boys' singles at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, while he also claimed bronze in the doubles and mixed doubles. After featuring at the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals in Chengdu, where he finished fourth, Gaston made a seamless transition to the professional ranks and won four titles during his first full season on the ITF World Tennis Tour in 2019. In short, he is rooted in the ITF player pathway and remains top of the ITF World Tennis Tour Men's rankings. With the dust firmly settled on his Roland Garros adventure and goals now reset, ITFWorld joins Gaston to look back on his memorable run in Paris, but also some of the moments which have aided his progress and defined his fledgling career. HUGO GASTON INTERVIEW