Australian Open: Lestienne, the beautiful story…

The first Grand Slam tournament match and … the first victory of Constant Lestienne. At 30, Amiénois made his debut this week in Melbourne at the Australian Open. For being baptized with fire at such a level, so late in life, Lestienne couldn’t imagine taking a small detour and coming away with a defeat in his first Grand Slam match. So he sought to negotiate his first match against Thiago Monteiro as best he could. The Brazilian was an ideal opponent for a player who was forced to surrender before the semi-final play in Auckland against Richard Gasquet, the eventual winner of the New Zealand Championship, due to a shoulder problem. A concern that only had a bad memory when the 30s showed up in court on Monday. Again, in full possession of his means and perseverance, the former player has long been accustomed to the secondary circuit and who only discovered the ATP circuit at the end of last season, finishing 77th in the ranking. Sets (6-3, 7-6, 6-3) by the Frenchman.

For the feat against Nuri?

Nice victory!
Constant Lestienne qualified for the second round of the #AusOpen 🔥 pic.twitter.com/OdoMVX0ADY

– FFT (FFTennis) January 16, 2023

The latter easily dominated Monteiro in the first set as well as in the third, and only in the second, which Lestienne won in the decisive match (7-2), the Brazilian was able to push the world number 55 into his consolidation. So mission accomplished for the person who died last year in just a few months from 208th to 65th in the world. Ten places higher on Monday (his best rating), the Amiens national still has to climb the classification, especially if he spends a few laps in Melbourne. The winner of the 2022 tournaments in Malaga, Pozoblanco and Vancouver will be decided quickly. In the second round, he will face an outsider: Briton Cameron Norrie, 12th in the world. This Monday, the latter left practically no chance for the Frenchman Luca van Asch.