Sinner steadies to beat Moutet

Story of the match

With the crowd firmly in his corner, Moutet's unconventional game style got him off to the most surprising of starts: a forehand winner to end a 12-shot rally gave him a break in the first game and the world No.79 sprinted ahead 3-0 after 10 minutes.

His lead ballooned to 5-0 after less than 20 minutes, as Sinner struggled to find the court opposite Moutet's variety and reactive tennis. In eight games, the Italian made 14 unforced errors and lost his serve three times.

With the Chatrier crowd ringing out rousing chants of his name, Moutet’s momentum continued into the second set. A 26-ball rally, ended by another Sinner mistake, put the 25-year-old ahead by a set and a break – putting a second title favourite under firm pressure in the night session in as many days.

But just as he has all year, or even further since becoming one of the game’s top players, Sinner wasn’t rattled. He broke back immediately, and as quickly as he had fallen behind, the Italian moved ahead. From 2-2, he never trailed again.

Despite failing to convert any of three set points in the eighth game of the second set, which would have seen him win four straight games to knot the match, Sinner wasted little time in turning the contest to his favour.

He broke Moutet twice in his first three service games of the second and third sets, and though the Frenchman emptied his entire bag of tricks – including an underarm serve he struck for an ace in the third set – there was little he had left to challenge a soaring Sinner.

Key stats

Sinner’s victory kept a number of streaks intact for the Italian as well as his pursuit of the world No.1 ranking. The Australian Open champion is now 11-0 in Grand Slam matches this year, as well as 22-0 against players ranked outside the top 20. 

Moutet, meanwhile, fell short of a milestone: he is now 0-12 against top 10 players in his career.

Sinner’s final stat line consisted of 40 winners and 31 unforced errors – but in sets two to four, he cleaned things up considerably. In the sets he won, he totalled 31 winners and just 17 unforced errors.

His serve, too, steadied. He wasn’t broken in either the third or fourth set, and landed a match-high 78 per cent of first serves in the fourth. He lost just eight points in four third-set service games, and five in the three games he served in the final set.

Sinner's take on things

On Moutet’s unique style: “I think it was very tough for me. 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.”

On being steady as opposed to the mercurial Moutet: “Maybe from outside it seems [so] … It was a very fair crowd. I think it would be strange that all of you guys were here for me, but it’s always a big pleasure to play on this special court.

"Night session, it’s always an honour. The atmosphere [tonight] has been amazing.”