By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday June 2, 2024
Jannik Sinner bounced back from a set down to roll past Corentin Moutet in four.
Photo Source: TTV
Paris – Jannik Sinner found himself a point from getting bageled in the opening set – twice – by Corentin Moutet, and was a set and break down in the second, but the 22-year-old Italian weathered the frenzy and stormed back to dominate the final three sets to earn a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 victory on Sunday night at Roland-Garros.
With the triumph the Italian stretches his winning streak at the majors to 11 and sets a quarterfinal with Grigor Dimitrov, who took out Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets earlier on Sunday, on Court Suzanne-Lenglen in Paris. Sinner, back in the quarterfinals for the first time since he reached the last eight on his debut in 2020, is now two victories from assuring himself a spell atop the ATP rankings. If he reaches the final – or if current World No.1 Novak Djokovic fails to reach it – Sinner will become the first Italian to ever hold the ATP’s No.1 ranking.
He had to wiggle out of a predicament on Sunday to stay in the hunt.
79th-ranked Moutet – architect of an entertaining run to the second week at his home Slam – was the aggressor early and he caught Sinner off guard to rush out to a commanding lead. The 25-year-old Parisian southpaw with deft tough and a flair for the dramatic gradually lost his hold on the match as Sinner asserted himself and let his bigger weapons do the talking.
Sinner finished with 40 winners against 30 unforced errors; Moutet hit 30 winners and 44 unforced errors. The Frenchman was broken eight times and only managed to win 8 of 28 second-serve points over the course of the two hour and 41-minute contest.
“It was very tough for me,” Sinner said on court. “I think he played very well in the first set. He plays differently to most of my opponents. 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.”
Second-seeded Sinner improves to 32-2 on the season and 15-4 at Roland-Garros.
He could end up facing his archrival Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals, if he wins over Dimitrov and Alcaraz gets past Stefanos Tsitsipas in his quarterfinal.
Sinner and Alcaraz have split eight career meetings with Alcaraz winning their only 2024 meeting in the semifinals at Indian Wells in March.