Hugo Gaston of France returns the ball during the men's singles final match against Facundo Diaz Acosta of Argentina at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Oct. 13, 2018. Hugo Gaston won 2-0. (Xinhua/He Changshan)
BUENOS AIRES, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- France's Hugo Gaston took the boys' tennis singles gold at the Youth Olympics here on Saturday when he beat local hero Facundo Diaz Acosta 6-4, 7-5 in the final.
Gaston, France's flag bearer at the Buenos Aires 2018 opening ceremony, became his country's first Olympic medallist in tennis since the Sydney 2000 Games when Arnaud Di Pasquale took bronze.
"It's wonderful to win the gold medal," the 18-year-old said. "It was a very difficult match for me and I wasn't expecting it. But I played match after match and I could make it to the final, and I would've been satisfied with that alone. I'm very happy about having won in the end."
Ranked No. 4 in the world junior circuit, Gaston took control from the outset, despite the partisan support in the stands for his Argentine rival.
"I stayed focused throughout the whole match. My coach helped me with that," he said. "The audience was wonderful for Facundo, but it didn't favour me.
Despite his disappointment, Diaz Acosta said he was proud of claiming the silver medal.
"Representing my country is something incredible. I don't know if it can be put into words. Having all the people cheering for you is great. The truth is that this is something amazing, even if I couldn't take the gold medal," he said.
"He [Gaston] is left-handed and that changes everything. He was very solid and played with intelligence. I tried to follow my game plan and had my chances, but he did very well."
