WORLD number two Jannik Sinner made his ay through to the last eight of Roland Garros, but not without a struggle, coming from a set down to knock off Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the Round of 16. The second seed – who will reach world number one if Novak Djokovic does not make the final – only dropped six games after the first set to secure the 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-1 victory.

The Italian had not dropped a set prior to his Round of 16 match, but found himself on the end of some ridiculous tennis from the Frenchman. He regathered himself at the first set break and managed to turn it around, eventually gaining full control and storming to a commanding win. He dropped six games in the final three sets, the same amount he did in the first set alone.

Moutet’s unique style had the underdog race out to a 5-0 lead and the home crowd became fanatic that an upset could be on the cards.

“I think it was very tough for me,” Sinner said post-match. “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 this Roland-Garros.

“He plays different than most of the opponents, so it was tough for me. He’s also lefty; you don’t play so many times against left-handers, so I’m happy to be in the next round.”

The match lasted two hours and 41 minutes with Sinner serving five aces to one and hitting 10 more winners (40-30). Her also hit 13 less unforced errors (31-44) in the victory, winning 73 per cent of his first serve point to control the match in the last three sets.

Sinner now takes on 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov, who was the only player to beat a higher ranked opponent on the day. He knocked off eighth seeded Pole, Hubert Hurkacz. In a tight three-set match, Dimitrov got up 7-6 6-4 7-6, while in the other matches, Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas set up a tantalising quarter final with wins over Felix Auger-Aliassime and Matteo Arnaldi respectively.

2024 ROLAND GARROS ATP ROUND OF 16 RESULTS:

[2] Jannik Sinner (ITA) defeated Corentin Moutet (FRA) 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-1
[3] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) defeated [21] Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) 6-3 6-3 6-1
[9] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) defeated Matteo Arnaldi (ITA) 3-6 7-6 6-2 6-2
[10] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) defeated [8] Hubert Hurkacz (POL) 7-6 6-4 7-6