Toulouse. A France-Belgium poster!
Maxime Janvier and the Belgian Kimmer Coppejans were expeditious yesterday in the semi-finals.
Barely a little over an hour of play for one and for the other! Yesterday, at the start of the afternoon, the Frenchman Maxime Janvier (25 years old, 343rd in the world) and the Belgian Kimmer Coppejans (28 years old, 292nd) wasted no time on the clay courts of Sept-Deniers to validate their tickets in the final.
The Habs, former 170th at ATP in 2019, already have a trophy in their pocket in the Pink City after the title won in stride in doubles alongside the Tunisian Malek Jaziri (victory 6-3, 7-6 against the “blue” pair composed of Théo Arribagé, member of Stade Toulousain, and Titouan Droguet). “It’s the second time I’ve played doubles with Malek and it’s the first time I’ve played singles and doubles finals in the same event. Of course, physically, by reconciling the two tables, there is fatigue. But it allows me to progress”, explained the member of TC Boulogne-Billancourt.
“I thought about definitively stopping my career”
In his singles half, he also dominated Titouan Droguet (465th, beneficiary of an invitation in the main draw) in 1h15 on the score of 6-1, 6-4. “Regarding my level of play, I’m happy with what I produced. It’s a continuation of what I’ve been showing lately,” said the Parisian. In his record, all categories combined on the pro circuit, he currently has eight titles (seven on clay), including a Challenger in 2016. Note that his last final (lost) in this same division dates back to February 2020 at the Quimper tournament. “Yes, it’s nice to come back to the final of a Challenger. But it wasn’t asked for a goal. The priority is to have rediscovered the taste for traveling on the circuit after this Covid crisis which didn’t hurt me a lot. reached on a moral level. I even thought of definitively stopping my “, insisted Maxime, arrived in Toulouse after an elimination in the 2nd round of the Challenger of Granby (Canada).
Coppejans: “I couldn’t play better than that”
For his part, Kimmer Coppejans, from qualifying, only needed 1h01 to get rid of the German Louis Wessels (294th) with the score of 6-0, 6-1. “I think I couldn’t play better than that”, let go of the former 97th in the world (in 2015). “But my opponent was surely very tired after having chained three victories in three sets, each time with very, very long matches”, he admitted.
This Franco-Belgian poster will not be the first between the two finalists: their three previous duels took place in 2013 (in Future, on gravel), 2016 (in Challenger, on hard) and 2017 (in Challenger, on gravel). And each time, the Belgian had the last word. “But I expect a difficult game anyway,” tempered the native of Ostend. In his record, he has eleven titles, including five on the Challenger circuit (the last dating from 2018). Finally, this season is his second final in this category: his first test took place at the end of June in Oeiras (Portugal) on clay, “my best surface”.