Lucas Pouille leads French Open crowd in emotional rendition of French national anthem following first Grand Slam win in 4 years

Lucas Pouille celebrated his first win at a Grand Slam tournament in four years with a stirring rendition of the French national anthem, sang in unison with the spectators at the French Open.

Pouille made his way through the qualifiers of the French Open, defeating Tomas Machac in the first round of qualifying, 7-5, 6-3. He then battled past Chun-hsin Tseng in the second round, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0, before beating Jurij Rodionov in the third round, 1-6, 7-5, 6-0 to advance to the main draw.

The Frenchman defeated lucky loser Rodionov for the second time in the tournament on Sunday, winning 6-2, 6-4, 6-3. In doing so, the World No. 675 became the lowest-ranked player to advance to the second round at the claycourt Major since World No. 762 Pablo Cuevas in 2013.

Lucas Pouille's overwhelming emotions at his victory were evident as he celebrated by leading the spectators on Court 14 in a passionate rendition of the French national anthem, 'La Marseillaise.'

Pouille's win carries a heightened emotional significance as the Frenchman recently opened up about finding himself "sinking into some creepy stuff" during his battles with alcoholism and depression prior to making his return to professional tennis.

"I wanted to stay on court as much as possible in order to live these emotions" - Lucas Pouille on singing the national anthem with French Open crowd

Lucas Pouille through to the second round of the 2023 French Open

Following his win, Lucas Pouille stated that he cherished his experience of singing the French national anthem in unison with the crowd. He added that he had wanted to prolong the moment in order to bask in their shared emotions.

"Of course, everyone sings the National Anthem the last few years. It's really the song you want to hear at the end of a match," he said in his post-match press conference.

"Tonight that was something I really wanted to share with them when people started to sing it at the end of the match, so I wanted to stay on court as much as possible in order to live these emotions with them and really make the most of every single minute with them on court," he added.

The home favorite also expressed his appreciation for the fervent support he continues to receive from the crowd.

"Well, I have a feeling that every day it's more and more. So it's really special," he said. "That's why also I think I took another 30 minutes on court to sign all the autographs, take all the pictures, because we finished pretty late, and the court was still packed, and they were cheering me up from the first point to the last one."

"The energy was just incredible. It was so many good emotions," he added.

Lucas Pouille will take on the winner of the match between Benoit Paire and Cameron Norrie in the second round on Wednesday, May 31.