A match on court no. 14 at Roland-Garros during the first round of the 2023 edition of the Grand Slam tennis tournament, in Paris. (Credit: Emmanuel Durand/AFP)
After making a strong impression in his first-ever Grand Slam qualifying match, Lebanese-French tennis player Daniel Jade was unable to repeat the feat Wednesday at Roland-Garros, losing 6-3, 6-3 to Denmark's August Holmgren in the second round of qualifying at the Paris major.
Two days earlier, the 17-year-old defeated Britain's Daniel Evans, a former world No. 21, by a score of 6-4, 6-4.
Back on Court No. 14 in front of another well-filled crowd, Jade, ranked No. 1,447 in the ATP rankings, struggled against Holmgren's powerful serve, ranked No. 167, and was unable to establish his usual rhythm from the baseline.
After comfortably holding his first two service games, he dropped serve in the fifth game to fall behind 3-2 and gradually found himself overwhelmed by the Dane's aces and service winners. Jade fought for nearly 15 minutes while trailing 5-3 in the opening set. After saving two set points, he eventually surrendered the third as Holmgren claimed the set 6-3.
Jade remained competitive early in the second set at 2-2 before being broken once again. Holmgren continued to dominate on serve and took control of the match. After losing three consecutive games to trail 5-2, Jade showed resilience by saving a first match point in the following game. But Holmgren converted his second opportunity to seal victory by the same 6-3 scoreline after just over an hour of play.
Jade nevertheless justified the wild card — the invitation granted to players whose rankings are not high enough to enter qualifying directly — awarded to him by tournament organizers.
Before his run at Roland-Garros, whose main draw begins this weekend, he had already made his mark on the junior circuit by winning three consecutive titles in April in southern France at Cap d'Ail, Beaulieu, and Istres — a "sunshine triple" never previously achieved.
That success earned him additional wild cards for several Challenger tournaments, the ATP circuit's second tier, allowing him to take another significant step in his development.
He will have a chance to bounce back in the coming days at the M25 tournament in Carnac, Brittany, before shifting his focus to the grass-court season and the qualifying rounds for Wimbledon.
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