World No. 2 Jannik Sinner survived an early onslaught from home favourite Corentin Moutet to advance to the quarterfinals with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 victory on Sunday at Roland Garros.
For one stunning opening set, the No. 79-ranked Moutet had the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd in the palm of his hand, dazzling both the fans and Sinner with his distinctive variety-filled lefty style. Moutet, who missed two chances to seal a rare bagel against the No. 2 after leading 5-0, 40/15, was up by a set and a break at 6-2, 1-0 when Sinner’s comeback began.
The 22-year-old Sinner proved too steady from the baseline for Moutet, who fought valiantly throughout but was unable to counter his opponent’s power in the second, third, and fourth sets. Sinner seemed unfazed by the intense atmosphere created by the home supporters, winning in two hours and 41 minutes to set up a quarterfinal against Grigor Dimitrov.
“It was very tough for me. I think he played very, very well in the first set. 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 at Roland Garros. The atmosphere as always was amazing,” Sinner said in his on-court interview, as quoted by ATP.
“He plays differently to most of my opponents, so it was tough for me. He is also a lefty. You don’t play so many times against left-handers, so I’m happy to be in the next round,” he added.
The Italian’s comeback victory was built on an improvement in his serve as his first Lexus ATP Head2Head match with Moutet progressed. In the first set, he won only 53 per cent (9/17) of the points behind his first serve, but by the end of the match, he had increased that figure to 73 per cent (45/62).
Sinner’s 32nd tour-level win of the year kept the pressure on Novak Djokovic in the race for World No. 1 at Roland Garros. Djokovic must reach at least the championship match in Paris to have a chance of maintaining his title after the clay-court major, while Sinner can ensure his ascension to the top of the tennis mountain by doing the same.
