Howell and Virgona set up French Open final rematch
Gale pushes Virgona to a fourth set deciding game; Shenkman falls victim to Howell's dedans hitting
Nick Howell and Steve Virgona will face off in the French Open final in a rematch of the 2023 edition, having both won through their semi-finals against Robert Shenkman and Levi Gale respectively at Paris on Thursday, who were both playing the semi-final of an Open for the first time.
The first semi-final saw Steve Virgona playing Levi Gale, the first time the two had shared a singles court together. Gale was perhaps a little overawed by the occasion, as the Parisian galleries filled out with members and sponsors. The Prested professional took a while to get going, trying to take the game on too much and force balls that were not there to be hit. Virgona, steady as ever, quickly built a 3/0 lead before Gale became more patient and allowed himself to get into the rallies. Once he began biding his time and waiting for the opportunity to strike, he looked stronger, grabbing back two games of the deficit. Virgona was not keen to let Gale recover further, stepping up a gear in his defense and making Gale have to hit a winning shot several times each point in order to make it stick. Virgona took three of the next four games to take the set.
Gale was not perturbed at being down a set against a player of Virgona’s stature. By the second set, he was playing positive, aggressive tennis, earning chases or errors by driving for the nick, serving well, avoiding giving Virgona an opportunity to nail main-wall forces. After Gale took a 2/0 lead, Virgona fought back to 2-all, helped by a tight chase off call on the last gallery line. From the service end, Gale kept searching for the grille but Virgona was there to clean up any misses. Instead, Gale started making progress at the hazard end as his forcing came good to extend a two game lead for a second time in the set. Once again, Virgona, unfazed, brought it back. Gale’s force was unrelenting, picking up another two games and taking the set on his second set point.
Gale’s force was his superweapon heading into the third set, blasting four dedans in five restes with just a chase in between. A game later, he hit the sweetest ‘tweener clean over the lowest part of the net and dying before the back wall. Virgona, needing to stop the forcing, changed serving tactics, opting for a wide variety of serves rather than the previous railroad-by-default. The change worked, particularly his left-handed African hunting dog, which would send Gale backpedalling and having to return the ball off his ankles. At 3-all, Virgona signalled out for a ball bouncing up near the out of court line beyond view from the dedans, but continued to play. Though the marker called out, the players exchanged several more strokes before a few heated words at the net were exchanged as to whether the ball was or was not out, and whether the marker could or could not see it. After resuming play, Virgona hit another gear, winning the last three games easily and taking a 2-1 lead.
By the fourth set, the rallies were the best and most dynamic of the match with excellent retrieving from both ends. The players exchanged games evenly throughout the set, reaching a deciding game at 5-all. After Gale cut the first point into the net, Virgona served an African hunting dog ace to go 30-0 up. The same serve then had Gale playing awkwardly off his toes, and Virgona’s subsequent tambour miss winner gave him a series of match points with a hazard chase to play. Virgona calmly guided the ball into the second gallery post to secure progression to another French Open final, marking a significant birthday present to himself, another step towards his potential career grand slam.
The second semi-final was between Nick Howell and Robert Shenkman. The opening of the match was scrappy, as both players made plenty of errors across the first couple of games. The rallies were short and staccato, hinging on whether Howell’s return of serve would win the point, result in an error or feed a grille shot to Shenkman. They fully locked horns by the 2-all game, with plenty of changes of ends as Shenkman kept seeking out second gallery chases. The 2-all game alone took 12 minutes to complete. Once Howell won it, he raced ahead, reaching a 5/2 lead a few minutes later. Shenkman then leant into his forces, mounting a comeback until he had points for 5/4, but couldn’t convert an easy ball off the penthouse which Howell picked up off his ankles and rattled around the grille to set up a set point, which he later converted.
Shenkman struggled for consistency into the second set, putting a lot of balls onto the penthouse and giving Howell plenty of opportunities to force. The World Number 3 was making few errors, stretching out a 4/1 lead in the set. A couple of Shenkman forces briefly brought the scoreline back to 4/3 but by the time he returned to the service end he couldn’t capitalize, as Howell’s cut-volleys were too strong. When Howell next returned to the service end, he lifted further, no longer giving Shenkman any attacking opportunities. Shenkman couldn’t find a new game plan going into the third set, whereas Howell’s victory became more and more inevitable.
Before they face off in the singles final, Nick Howell and Steve Virgona will join forces in the doubles semi-finals to take place on Friday. Friday will also see the commencement of the women’s draw starting with the singles semi-finals.
Match results:
5:00 PM: Levi Gale lost to Steve Virgona (2) 3/6 6/4 3/6 5/6
7:00 PM: Nick Howell (1) def Robert Shenkman (4) 6/3 6/3 6/3
Order of play for Friday (all times CEST):
12:30 PM: Claire Fahey (1) vs Lydia Compton-Burnett
1:30 PM: Katherine Carney vs Jess Garside (2)
5:00 PM: Nick Howell & Steve Virgona (1) vs Vaughan Hamilton & Bertie Vallat
7:00 PM: Lewis Williams & Levi Gale vs Robert Shenkman & Leon Smart (2)