A lob at the end of the night. French tennis player Corentin Moutet (64th in the ATP rankings) qualified for his first round of 16 in the Masters 1000 in Paris, after three o’clock in the morning, by defeating Briton Cameron Norrie 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7/3) in the night from Wednesday to Thursday. A final winning lob sealed his victory at 3:03 am precisely, after two hours fifty-two minutes of a match started after midnight.
“I really gave everything, I played my match from the first to the last point, I really believed in myself from the first to the last point. The public stayed, they supported me a lot, really it was a very pleasant match to live. I will keep it in mind for a long time, I am proud of myself. It is sure that it is one of my most beautiful victories”, savored Moutet.
At the gates of the top 50
This performance by Moutet comes the day after the French Tennis Federation confirmed its recent decision to deprive the player of federal funding, due to his repeated bad behavior on the courts. Since the start of the year, the 23-year-old Parisian has stood out several times in tournaments with angry gestures.
Coming from qualifying, Moutet will challenge world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the round of 16 on Thursday, which will allow him to climb to the gates of the top 50 on Monday, the best ranking of his career.