Olympic Games | 31 Jul 2024

Zinedine ZIDANE and Henri LECONTE Celebrate Felix LEBRUN’S Success

In the sold-out South Paris Arena 4, with 6,400 spectators, former world number one Dimitrij OVTCHAROV narrowly lost 3-4 to France’s 17-year-old superstar Felix LEBRUN in a high-level round of 16 match. The French fans, including football star Zinedine ZIDANE and former tennis ace Henri LECONTE, celebrated Felix LEBRUN with loud chants for his performance and advancement to the quarterfinals.

Felix defeated Dimitrij OVTCHAROV with scores of 11-9, 15-13, 12-10, 8-11, 3-11, 8-11, 11-7, after OVTCHAROV recovered from a 0-3 deficit to level the match.

“The pressure was high today, and he fought back to even it at 3-3. But I think I managed it well and handled the key points. I think I managed my stress well. It was good that I started the match very well, and I handled the key points well. I’m super happy about that. I started some games not so good. Ovtcharov is a very tough and experienced player and he never gives up. It was very difficult to beat him today. I knew even at 3-0 it would be hard for me. But at 3-3 the beginning of my game was very good, with the crowd too, and I tried to push myself with the crowd,” said Felix LEBRUN.

Regarding the loudness, the political magazine 'Le Point' stated on its website: "How can one describe the atmosphere during match point? We had fun measuring the decibel level in the hall at that moment: 116, which is between a rock concert and a Formula 1 racetrack."

After winning bronze in London 2012 and Tokyo 2020, Dimitrij OVTCHAROV was denied a third Olympic medal in singles at the Summer Games.

"I lost the first three games by two points. In the first game, I missed a few chances to go ahead by two or three points and then lost 9-11. In the second game, I had two set points where I played extremely confidently and hoped to somehow win the set," said OVTCHAROV.

Today was also a sad day for the older LEBRUN, as Hugo CALDERANO of Brazil halted the progress of Alexis LEBRUN to the quarters with a 4-1 win (3-11, 11-15, 11-6, 11-3, 11-8).

Earlier today, in the first match of the Round of 16 session, Sofia POLCANOVA won against Romania’s Bernadette SZOCS in straight games (12-10, 11-4, 13-11, 11-9).