Van che and Barrere fight for Eastbourne

Both led by a round to zero, the French in the running for the ATP 250 tournament on gr in Eastbourne on Monday, Luca van che and Grégoire Barrère, will see the second round after snatch victories.

Ped by the qualifications, van che had the easiest match on paper against the 367th world, the Briton George Loffhagen, who had benefited from a wild card. He was however caught twice on his serve in the first set, lost 6-2. The match then became totally unpredictable, like the wind blowing near the English south coast. In the second and third set, the players lost serve three times each and van che even saved a match point at 4-5 in the second set. But he played the decisive points better, winning both tie breaks 7-5 and 7-4 to finish in 2 hours and 57 minutes.

A little earlier, Barrère, 57th player in the world, had the honor of opening the tournament against Ruusuvuori (45th), and also fought for almost three hours. Dominated in the first set (3-6), he then did not concede a break point, but failed to convert his four opportunities in the second set. He still managed to win the two decisive games 8-6 and 7-4 to extend his stay in the south of England. In the next round, Barrère will face the 28th player in the world and seeded number 5 in the tournament, the Chilean Nicolas Jarry, while van che, 79th ATP player, will have to raise his level against the 46th, the American JJ Wolf.