Toby Samuel said he will leave Paris hugely encouraged by his first Grand Slam experience despite suffering a first-round defeat to eighth seed Alex De Minaur at the French Open. The 23-year-old, who grew up in Dorset and trains at the University of Bath, earned his place in the main draw by winning three qualifying matches, and he pushed his Australian opponent in a 6-4 6-4 6-2 loss in hot conditions.
Samuel, who had never previously faced a top-100 player, showed glimpses of his potential, breaking serve to lead 2-0 in the second set and troubling De Minaur with his big serve and forehand. While his backhand remains a work in progress, the former Southampton fan said the experience had narrowed the perceived gap between himself and the world's best. “A couple of months ago I wouldn’t have thought I’d be playing someone like Alex De Minaur,” he said. “It really isn’t as big a gap as I thought, and this week’s definitely shown that to me.”
Samuel’s run to the main draw provided some solace for his Southampton-supporting family, who were left frustrated by the club’s controversial exit from the Championship play-offs amid a spying scandal. “My dad was talking about wearing a ‘Free Southampton’ shirt to the match – we’re joking, but that has been tough,” Samuel said. “We’ve been doing so good as a club but obviously things happen so we’ve got to move on from that.”
The 23-year-old had the biggest ranking rise of any male player last year, climbing from 1,867 to 266, and he could break into the top 150 after this tournament. That would almost certainly earn him a wildcard for Wimbledon, where he previously experienced qualifying only. “Going into the grass now, it was a great week for me here to qualify and get into the main draw, and I just want to put myself in the best position possible for the main draw wild card,” he said.
Samuel also collected his largest career prize money, with first-round losers receiving €87,000 (approximately £75,000) – more than half his total earnings before the tournament. Despite the defeat, he remained upbeat: “It was an amazing experience and I sort of couldn’t wish it went any different. Maybe done a little bit better in the match but it was so cool playing that first round today.”
