Vacherot, one more milestone to cross

Very clean first round from Valentin Vacherot, who delivered a performance full of control. Solid on serve, efficient in the key moments and, above all, very clinical on his break points, he won without ever really putting himself in danger. A complete, reassuring victory that confirms his growing form.

For his part, Hijikata also had a calm start, taking advantage of a very ghostly Manna to win without having to push. Both players therefore have a good opportunity here to reach the third round, as they are each having a perfectly respectable start to the season by their own standards.

That said, I’ve never been a huge fan of the Australian. Hijikata is a serious, hard‑fighting player, but he seems a bit limited for the main tour. He stays around the world No. 100 thanks to regular wins at Australian Challengers, which are rarely very strong, but he has little success on the main circuit. Small in stature, without a truly dominant shot, I don’t see his potential as being much higher than his current level.

Conversely, Vacherot seems to have made that step very quickly. He clearly has the qualities to establish himself long-term at this level: a reliable serve, good reading of the game and a real ability to handle both strong and weak phases. In this match, I see him quite clearly as the better player.