R1: Grégoire, Greg L, Ramit, Dimitri

Greg Lobban : I was really important I’d focused on myself, playing someone who is your team mate, and a very good friend, you’ve got to put all that aside a little bit and focus on my strengths like I would do with anyone else.

I don’t think I ever liked playing Alan Clyne and now it’s Rory. It’s not the best of matches when two best friends play each other, there is not that much space on the court because you know what they are going to do before they do it!

I’m happy to win, obviously, but sad that I had to play Rory in the first round.

I’m playing Miguel. Not sure if he got his bag back yet or not! It seems to work for him last week, so, maybe he’ll keep playing with the same outfit; maybe that’s the secret for him!

I’ve played him a few times before and I know his strengths as well but again, I’ll treat it like any other match, trying to think about my strengths as well, trying to impose my game on him. I’ve been playing well recently, I think I can cause him some problems, so, I’ll go in tomorrow with the same plan and see what I can do.

Grégoire:  Shahjahan hasn’t been getting great results lately, but I know he can be a dangerous player. Since a first-round match is never easy, I took it very seriously.

Initially, I struggled to find my range, but as the match progressed, I felt I was getting quicker, got to the ball faster, and I tried to introduce more uncertainty, avoiding playing two similar shots in a row, creating more varied trajectories.

This approach worked well today, and I managed to stay focused from start to finish, which is not always the case for me! So, a good first round with positives to take forward.

Tomorrow, it’s either Yow or Cesar. It’s not a bad second round; Yow is playing well at the moment, having just won the German Open. As for Cesar, he’s getting back into form; I played him in January. Either way, there’s a good match ahead.