No wonder Lucas Pouille looked dumbfounded at his 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 10-8 win yesterday over fellow young gun Bernard Tomic. He had never before won a five-set match at tour level and had never beaten a seeded player at a Grand Slam.
After coolly sealing the near three-hour battle with the 23-year-old Australian 19th seed by punching down two aces, Pouille fell on his back and then sat looking stunned on his chair, soaking up the applause.
The 22-year-old Frenchman had already bested his major performance by reaching the Wimbledon last 16 when downing Argentine Juan Martin del Potro — as well as far surpassing his own expectations.
“Before the tournament, (it) was to win one match on grass. Yeah, now, of course, I’m very happy, very emotional with the win today,” the 32nd seed told reporters.
He and Tomic were two of the four players aged 23 and under in the fourth round — the most at Wimbledon since 2010, when the youth wing included Britain’s Andy Murray and now world number one Novak Djokovic.
“I had a big chance to make a semi at Wimbledon... But I have to give credit to him, because he played the right tennis to win,” said Tomic, who reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2011 as a qualifier.
Next up for Pouille, who reached his tour-level final and broke into the top 50 this year, will be fellow 22-year-old Jiri Vesely or Tomas Berdych, who reached the final six year ago and has been a permanent fixture of the top 10 since July 2010.
“I think it will be one of my most important matches of my career so far. To reach the semi-final of a grand slam, of course, it’s important,” Pouille said.