Verona Challenger: Fans furious with Hugo Gaston, who retires before the match point

French is being harshly criticized on social media


by LORENZO CIOTTI

Verona Challenger: Fans furious with Hugo Gaston, who retires before the match point

Hugo Gaston was the protagonist of a tennis moment that did not please tennis fans, in an ATP Challenger tournament scheduled in Verona. A behavior that did not give him heavy criticism and comments on social media for what happened.

The French tennis player, seeded number 2 in the main draw, made up for a bad defeat on his debut against the Argentine Marco Trungelliti but in a very particular way. In fact, down 5-2 and 0-40 in the deciding set, the French decided not to wait any longer and before the match point he withdrew from the competition.

The 22-year-old didn't seem to suffer from any particular physical problem and was therefore challenged on Twitter for his disrespectful attitude towards his opponent, who nonetheless rejoiced for the very important victory obtained.

It wasn't the first time for Gaston

Gaston is not new to being talked about for this type of behavior. Recently the Frenchman was the author of a truly unsportsmanlike episode at the Mutua Madrid Open. In the match against Croatian Borna Coric, he voluntarily dropped the ball from his pocket on an opponent's smash, with the clear intention of having the chance to replay a point that seemed lost.

The ATP did not justify him and sanctioned him with a fine of around 133,000 euros, exceeding the prize money he had collected in the Spanish tournament of 121,000 euros. Here is the video of what happened in Veneto in the event on clay:

Gaston's 2023

After a negative start to the season, he recovered in March by reaching the final at the Viña del Mar Challenger, lost against Thiago Seyboth Wild.

In the second round of the Madrid Open he was defeated by Borna Coric and during one phase of the game he voluntarily dropped a ball from his pocket. He is then sanctioned by the ATP and, in consideration of the recidivism of the unsportsmanlike conduct, a fine of 144,000 euros is imposed on him.

He did not achieve good results in the following tournaments until July, when he defeated Bernabé Zapata Miralles in 3 sets in the final at the Challenger in Iași. The following week he also won the City of Trieste Challenger by beating Francesco Passaro in the final in 3 sets and at the end of the tournament he was back in the top 100.

Hugo Gaston