Pierre-Hugues Herbert treated himself to a nice thrill this Monday on the clay court of Naples. In the first round of the Challenger, the Alsatian saved seven match points in his duel against the Italian Raul Brancaccio before finally turning the tide in three sets and a bubble in the last (3-6, 7-5, 6-0).
He had to work hard and use his whimsical instinct to break his opponent’s momentum at 5-4 in the second set. Woody smash, drop shots, spoon serve… Everything was there to destabilize Brancaccio and succeed in getting a second round.
A great coup for the 33-year-old Frenchman, currently 160th in the world in the ATP rankings and in search of sensations for several years. Hampered by physical problems, he is fighting to return to the top 100, having reached 36th place in 2019.
At the end of January, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, 23 doubles titles, including 5 Grand Slams and 2 Masters, won his first singles title since 2016. A coronation obtained in Challenger in Quimper.