Jannik Sinner recovered from one set down to reach the French Open quarter-finals on Sunday, putting away home favourite Corentin Moutet with a classy display. (Full Coverage | Tennis News)
A huge upset looked possible when Moutet took the first set and broke early in the second, but Sinner fought back to post a deeply impressive 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-1 victory.
Sinner seemed to be caught off-guard by Moutet in the opener, the French showman sinking a series of delicious drop shots with the world number two on his heels.
Moutet carried that momentum into the second set, breaking straight away with his first four winners all being drop shots, yet Sinner soon learned, getting to the net well as he immediately broke back.
That was a theme of the contest from then on, with Sinner making few mistakes with his approach play and dispatching a series of volleys at the net as he took the second set.
Early in the third, it was the Italian pulling out the party tricks as he broke twice more en route to going a set up, much to the annoyance of a raucous crowd on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Moutet threw his racket down after seeing his serve broken again in the first game of the fourth set, and then attempted – in vain – to snap his racket when Sinner converted at the end of a long rally to make it a double break, his outing ending in frustration.
Data Debrief: All-rounder Sinner in great company
Sinner has become just the third male player since the year 2000 to reach multiple grand slam quarter-finals on every surface before turning 23, after Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
He will face Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals after the 10th seed overcame world number eight Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets on Sunday.
