If you live by the sword, you die by the sword. There have been plenty of star turns at the Paris Masters this week, but none quite like Hugo Gaston, the master escapologist who survived two match points against Kevin Anderson in the opening round of the qualifying competition, twice bounced back from a set down to reach the last 16, beating Pablo Carreño Busta along the way, and then defeated Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets after overturning a 0-5 second-set deficit. It has been a fairytale run for the French qualifier, who has enjoyed fevered support from the Parisian crowd, but this time it was someone else’s turn to wield the cutlass.
Enter Daniil Medvedev, who was booed on to Court Central by sections of the crowd and, as ever, played the role of pantomime villain to perfection. Medvedev has been on uneasy terms with the locals since his opening match against Ilya Ivashka, a contest that ended with him blowing ironic kisses to hecklers; crossing swords with a Frenchman was never likely to improve relations.
The Russian traditionally thrives in the face of such hostility, but even he seemed taken aback by the lengths to which the crowd were prepared to go in support of their man. They chanted Gaston’s name as Medvedev prepared to serve. They roared with delight whenever the defending champion missed a forehand – which, in the opening set especially, was unusually often – or sent a first serve astray. They booed when he went to change a racket mid-game. At 4-4 in the opening set, it all became too much for Medvedev, who double-faulted as he attempted to negotiate the first break point of the match. Gaston, serving for the opener, raced in to a 40-0 lead. It all seemed to be written in the stars for the 103rd-ranked Frenchman. And then Medvedev turned party pooper.
The key moment came on the first of the three set points, when Medvedev barely scraped back a return off a deep serve down the centre. The Russian’s reply was short, weak and high, and as Gaston lined up a forehand there seemed only one possible outcome. But Medvedev guessed correctly, lunging to his forehand side to improvise a lob that landed deep in Gaston’s backhand corner. Gaston hooked the ball back into play, but Medvedev lashed an unanswerable forehand to the opposite side and suddenly, it seemed, there was a sliver of doubt in the Frenchman’s mind. A stinging backhand pass set up a drive-volley winner for Medvedev on the second set point and, when Gaston missed one of his signature drop shots on the third, his opponent was quick to capitalise. Having chased down a drop shot to secure the break, Medvedev never looked back, running out a 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 winner to leave Gaston wondering what might have been. It was a clear case of the biter bit.
“That’s the only time where I could actually have some regrets,” said Gaston of his ill-fated attempt to serve out the first set. “I haven’t seen this point again, but I have to do better in the future. When you play the second-best player in the world, the slightest error is incredible. But I have to think about what I have done during this match, during the tournament. I’m still happy about what I have done so far.”
While Gaston can reflect with satisfaction on a week that has brought his first appearance in a Masters quarter-final, and which will see his ranking rise roughly 40 places as he heads into next week’s Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, Medvedev may be left wondering what more he has to do to endear himself to the residents of Paris-Bercy. He has a French coach in his corner in Gilles Cervara, resides in Monaco and speaks the native tongue fluently. In the end, he was just happy to make it through to the last four, where he will face Alexander Zverev, a 7-5, 6-4 winner over Casper Ruud.
“When [the atmosphere] is against you, you need to face it,” said Medvedev. “You need to try to win no matter what. Even when it is against me, I think, ‘Well, I will try to beat my opponent and the crowd’, because there is no other choice.”
Medvedev, who said a switch to slower balls at the event has made the conditions “too slow for indoor hard courts”, retains a slim chance of overhauling Novak Djokovic as world No 1, although the Russian insists that is not on his mind at present.
“I’m not sure of the mathematics, but I guess if Novak is in the final, he maybe secures it,” explained Medvedev. “Maybe he needs one match win in Turin. We all know who Novak is. There is big chance he’s going to be able to make it. So that’s why I don’t think about it.”
Djokovic, on the other hand, who beat Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-3 to book a semi-final meeting with Hubert Hurkacz, has his sights set firmly on ending the year as top dog for a record seventh time. “That’s actually the biggest reason why I came here,” said the Serb, “trying to clinch the year-end No 1. Hopefully I can do it during this week. If not, then I’ll have another chance [at the ATP Finals] in Turin.”
Victory over Hurkacz, who defeated Australia’s James Duckworth 6-2, 6-7(4-7), 7-5, would see Djokovic achieve his target.