Sinner to Saint, Jannik ousts Moutet after slow start
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
Raducanu rolls in Eastbourne second round
LOCAL young gun and US Open champion Emma Raducanu kick-started her Rothesay International campaign off with a convincing 6-4 6-0 domination of another US Open winner Sloane Stephens. Both players have had similar troubles since breaking out with a major win, with Raducanu’s unheard of race from qualifier to Grand Slam champion particularly a tough […]
Pegula survives thriller to win in Berlin
IT was a rocky match for world number five Jessica Pegula, but the American survived to pull through against 24th ranked Russian Anna Kalinskaya and secure her first WTA Tour title of the year. Pegula came back from a set down and five championship points down to win in three sets, 6-7 6-4 7-6 in […]
Sinner salutes in first title as world number one
ITALIAN young gun Jannik Sinner did not let the pressure of being the newly crowned world number one get to him as the top seed claimed the ATP 500 title in Halle overnight. The Australian Open champion showed he is just as impressive on grass, having to fight past a determined Hubert Hurkacz to win […]
Around The Tour: Thompson, Hijikata advance as Murray retires
TWO Aussies are through to the quarter finals of the ATP 500 event in London, defeating their respective opponents in the Round of 16 overnight. Second highest ranked Aussie Jordan Thompson and qualifier Rinky Hijikata both advanced through to the last eight, though in very different circumstances. Thompson was 4-1 up against local hero and […]
Around the Tour: Demon hits roadblock as Rublev rolled
AFTER celebrating his second ATP Tour title of the year just two days earlier, Australian Alex de Minaur fell to Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the first round of the Cinch Championships in London. The new world number seven looked to be cruising after the first set with a 6-1 triumph, before Musetti found his rhythm […]
Demon lives up to top seed status with title
AUSTRALIAN Alex de Minaur‘s first ever tournament as a top seed ended in the best possible way with the Top 10 player taking out the Libema Open at ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands. The Aussie defeated American Sebastian Korda in straight sets 6-2 6-4 in 94 minutes to take out the ATP 250 event and kick […]
Top seed Demon dashes into second round
TOURNAMENT favouritism did nothing to distract top seeded Australian Alex de Minaur at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, winning in a tight straight sets match over Belgian Zizou Bergs. For the first time in his career, de Minaur was the number one seed, and he did well against a plucky Bergs, winning 7-5 6-4 to reach the quarter finals […]
Around the Tour: US Open winners set for quarter finals clash
A TANTALISING quarter finals clash between US Open champions Naomi Osaka and Bianca Andreescu awaits in ‘s-Hertogenbosch after the pair won their respective Round of 16 matches overnight. Osaka, who holds four Grand Slams – all on hard court – three more than Andreescu’s sole 2019 US Open title, will face the fellow wildcard on […]
Around the Tour: Osaka breaks grass drought
FORMER world number one Naomi Osaka cruised to her first win on grass court since the 2019 Birmingham Classic, taking care of Belgian Elise Mertens at the Libema Open. Osaka won 6-2 6-4 at the ‘s-Hertogenbosch event in the Netherlands, needing 69 minutes to knock off the 32nd ranked Belgian. Holding a wildcard at the […]
