After a nervy opening thirty minutes, normal service resumed as Jannik Sinner defeated home hope Corentin Moutet 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 and moved one step closer to becoming the new world number one on Monday.
In a thoroughly entertaining contest on a sold-out evening session on Philippe Chatrier, the number two seed navigated his way through an awkward first set where his French opponent mixed power from the baseline along with high loopy balls and devilish drop shots to carve out a stunning 5-0 lead in just 21 minutes and twice had chances to ‘bagel’ the Italian.
“I think it was very tough for me, he played very well in the first set,” said Sinner in his post-match interview. “I had some chances but he played much better than me so I had to adjust a little bit. He had an amazing run here in this Roland Garros.”
It was the first meeting between the two who had never even practiced with each other. Moutet, the world number 79 who was fighting his way back from a horrible wrist injury last year which saw his ranking plummet to 170, started brilliantly by creating a breakpoint in the opening game and took it immediately to the delight of the home crowd.
After holding serve, he continued his dream start by breaking again after Sinner threw in a sloppy game with two uncharacteristic double faults. Amazingly, he brought up yet another breakpoint in the fifth game with a crunching forehand down-the-line winner and once again snatched his opportunity.
Sinner was clearly troubled by the occasion, winning just 36% of first serves, as well as missing regulation smashes and failing to chase down drop shots. Moutet even served underarm at 15-0 ahead when serving for the set and won the point with yet another drop shot. Although Sinner avoided a 6-0 set for the first time since Turin in 2021 against Daniil Medvedev, he soon lost the set when Moutet, who was the only French male player in the fourth round, served out at the second time of asking.
The world number two opened the second set but was immediately in further trouble when facing another breakpoint and both players were stretched to all parts of the court before Sinner netted after a superb rally to concede the break – while Moutet stood in the centre of the court soaking up the applause. But he was unable to capitalise and lost serve straight away and Sinner then held for 2-1.
Games went with serve until 3-2 where Sinner, who was growing in confidence and starting to reassert himself on court, made the breakthrough for 4-2 to go ahead for the first time and had triple set point a couple of games later but Moutet played well to win five points in a row. Sinner then played a clinical game to level the match at a set all with just one hour and 23 minutes on the clock.
The third set began with an extraordinary underarm ace by Moutet but he then threw in his second double fault. When a forehand drifted wide a couple of points later, he offered another breakpoint to his Italian opponent who took the lead with a precision forehand down-the-line. A spectacular backhand down-the-line followed in the next game and the crowd fell silent as they began to realise the match was slipping away from their player as Sinner had begun to have more impact on the match.
Moutet’s frustrations continued as his drop shots deserted him. He was broken again to love and Sinner took a 4-1 lead. During the changeover he remonstrated with the chair umpire over a mark on the clay from four points ago – thus revealing his state of mind and how lost he was.
In the fourth, the crowd tried their best to inject energy into Moutet and tactically broke out into a Mexican wave at 2-1 as they attempted to disrupt Sinner’s serve. But the Italian was having none of it and held to love. In the next game Moutet resorted to another underarm serve but remarkably was called for a foot-fault and after further drop shots failed, he once again lost serve. Sinner didn’t look back as he closed out after two hours and 41 minutes.
When asked afterwards about why it took so long to figure out Corentin’s game style, Sinner replied: “He plays different from most of the opponents. It was tough for me. He’s also a lefty and you don’t play so many times against left-handed. I am happy to be in the next round.”
Sinner is 32-2 this year and has now made seven Grand Slam quarter finals – a record for an Italian in the modern era. He was praised for maintaining his focus despite the one-sided support, but he was quick to appreciate the atmosphere. “It was a very fair crowd, thank you everyone. It would be strange if all you guys were here for me! It’s always an honour to play an evening session here on this court, as I said the atmosphere has been amazing and thanks to everyone for coming out.”
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