The next generation is here!

Is the surprise of the qualifiers capable of carrying on?

Barely 18 years old and already qualified for the main draw of an ATP 500 — not everyone can be Moise Kouamé, but that's already impressive.

I’d already seen this young lefty last year against Bellucci yesterday and he seemed too lightweight for this level; he comes back this year without a wild card and gets through qualies by beating two established players, an in-form Jacquet and the solid Carballes Baena.

Before that he’d only had just decent results on the Futures circuit, so this kind of comes out of nowhere, but we know that playing at home you can sometimes pull off miracles.

First round then tomorrow against Halys, who is far from being the worst draw in the field. The Frenchman had a very good start to the season in Australia, then was a substitute in the Davis Cup and comes here full of confidence.

Rottgering played two players with a similar profile in qualifying, and now he’s going to face a very different kind of opponent, who serves better and prefers shorter rallies; he’ll need to adjust.