Corentin
Moutet (No. 79) surprises
Nicolas Jarry (No. 16) with another major upset on
the first day of the
French Open. The Frenchman was consistent throughout the
match, neutralizing the Chilean's power to secure an impressive 6-2, 6-1, 3-6,
6-0 victory.
Jarry
entered the court to boos from French fans after Moutet heated up the match in
the hours leading up to it. The world No. 79 reminded his Instagram followers
of the hostile reception he received from the crowd at the Santiago Open when
he defeated Nicolas Jarry (7-6, 7-6).
“Revenge
against Jarry at
Roland Garros. I remember well the welcome they gave me at
their home (Chile Open). I hope you guys are eager to show him that this time
we are locals. Be ready and be loud. This is Paris,” he wrote the day before
the match.
The support
from the crowd was evident from the start, and Jarry was far from his usual
level. In the first set, both saved some break points in their first service
games. The balance did not last long, as Moutet began to dominate at 2-2,
securing two consecutive breaks to take the set 6-2. The Chilean hit 14 winners
and committed 20 unforced errors, compared to 7 winners and 7 unforced errors
from his opponent.
Moutet's
lead further energized the crowd, and the 25-year-old Frenchman showcased his
best tricky shots, playing frequent drops and lobs, which unsettled Jarry, who
was imprecise throughout much of the match.
Moutet
secured consecutive breaks in the fourth and sixth games of the second set and
gave no chances with his serve, extending his lead to 6-1. Absolute surprise on
Court Simonne-Mathieu, with the Frenchman dominating the Rome Open finalist
from a week earlier.
In the
third set, the Chilean showed some recovery, starting with an early break and
then dominating with his serve to maintain the lead. Jarry played at his usual
level for a few minutes, but with Moutet's confidence and the energy of a crowd
constantly pressuring the Chilean, he couldn't sustain it.
Jarry played the Rome Open final one week ago. Now is one of the biggest upsets in the first round.
The
disaster for Jarry was even greater in the fourth set, where he won only 35% of
his service points and 32% of return points. Moutet swept the Chilean in the
match's closing stages without giving him a game in the final set, sealing the
impeccable victory 6-2, 6-1, 3-6, 6-0. He will face the winner of Aslan
Karatsev (No. 82) or
Alexander Shevchenko (No. 61) in the second round.
Korda to second round
Only one of
the five American seeds saw action on the first day, with
Sebastian Korda
delivering a strong performance at Roland Garros. The 23-year-old, seeded 27th,
faced local Harold Mayot, securing an easy victory 6-2, 7-6, 6-4. Korda
capitalized on four of his eight break points and saved two of the three break
points against him to clinch the win in just 2 hours and 10 minutes.
There were
also some surprises, such as veteran
Richard Gasquet's win over
Borna Coric and
Belgian
Zizou Bergs' first Grand Slam main draw victory against 24th seed
Alejandro Tabilo.
Some
five-set battles saw
Jack Draper edge out Jesper De Jong. Other notable results
included five-set wins by
Hubert Hurkacz over Shintaro Mochizuki and Kei
Nishikori over Gabriel Diallo.