Pierre-Huugues Herbert, 34, the tennis player of the house that will face João Fonseca in the second round of Roland Garros, praised the Brazilian even before the end of the match against Polish Hubert Hurkacz.
“I never played against him. I follow, because two or three years ago I have been disputing the Challengers [torneios de terceiro escalão do circuito]and he passed them last year, so I saw him, “said veteran Herbert (147th ranking) shortly after defeating compatriot Benjamin Bonzi (60th) in five sets (7/5, 3/6, 4/6, 7/5, 6/2).
“In addition, I crossed with him at the Davis Cup, because we played against Brazil in Orléans. He is a young man on the rise, I saw that he won a lot this year, played extremely well in the Australian season [em janeiro]. He is a good player, let’s see, “he concluded in the interview, held when the departure of Fonseca was still underway.
At the Davis Cup, Fonseca played well, but was defeated by Ugo Humbert (7/5 and 6/3). The Brazilian avenged himself a month later, in Miami, winning 6/4 and 6/3.
According to Herbert, playing against a foreigner gives him more motivation. “In Roland Garros, it’s not the same when you face a Frenchman.”
Herbert is known as a sake-player player, that is, who climbs the network to try to define the points right after the service.
