In a quarterfinals day with plenty of three-game thrillers, Alex Lanier and Julien Carraggi’s clash was one of the highlights, a battle of two European talents.
With Lanier leading the head-to-head 4-0 against Carraggi, it was still bound to be one of the key matches of the day at the quarterfinals of the HYLO Open 2023. With the two players having earned some great results in the last year, it would not be so easy to secure the ticket to the semifinals. “Yeah, it was not. Absolutely not,” Lanier, who eventually won the encounter, declared.
In fact, the Frenchman who would become the match’s winner started off by losing 14-21. “From the first game, I saw that my legs were not as fast as yesterday. I was not in my best shape,” Lanier explained. “And he [Carraggi] was fresh, he played well.”
Lanier turned it around in the second game, although it was a close win, 23-21. “We [my coach and I] tried to find the way to manage his speed and get into his rally. We found solutions and it worked.” Emotions were running high and the score was close right until the end of the decider. “It was a mental battle. I didn’t feel really well on court but I’m happy to be in the semifinals,” Lanier stated.
The French player’s celebrations of the last points highlighted the importance of the pass to the semifinals. “As I said, it was not my best performance, I was a bit stressed too. It was really hard for me to push my limits. It was more of a mental effort to stay on court, to stay focused, and to keep this intensity even if I didn’t have the legs. It was of course emotional to feel that I walked on court and I got the win.”
The Frenchman will be facing HYLO Open 2022 runner-up Chou Tien Chen, Chinese Taipei, in the semifinals, an unmissable clash.
The semifinals, taking place tomorrow Saturday 4 November, will be starting at 2pm (CET). You can watch the matches on BWF TV.