Monteiro beats top 100 Moutet in straight sets and breaks the qualifier

Rome Italy) – Having a good time on the circuit, Thiago Monteiro from Ceará managed to qualify for the main draw of the Masters 1000 in Rome through the qualifiers. This Tuesday, he secured his place in the Italian competition by defeating Frenchman Corentin Moutet, 83rd in the rankings, in straight sets, scoring 6/3 and 6/4 in 1h26 of the match, which was interrupted by rain.

Monteiro is making his 11th appearance in a Masters 1000, with five wins and 10 losses, two of which came weeks ago in Madrid, where he also broke qualifying and then beat Serbian Dusan Lajovic and surprised Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. It will be his third time in Rome, having fallen in the second round last year and the first in 2017.

With the two victories in the quali and the place in the main draw at Foro Itálico, the left-hander from Ceará is provisionally rising from 106th place to 103rd and could return to the top 100 if he wins another one in the competition. He is now waiting for the end of the qualifying phase matches and the draw to find out who his opponent will be in the first round.

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The duel was quite even in both sets and defined in detail. In the first, all it took was a poorly played game by Moutet, who faced 0-40 in the sixth and was broken on the first break-point he faced. The story of the second half was similar, but with an interruption due to rain when the score was 4/4.

With no chance of a break for either side, the break in the match ended up making the difference for the Ceará native, who soon managed to break Moutet’s serve on the third break point he had. Firm in his services, with a 75% success rate in the game, Monteiro had no problem confirming the match and thus guaranteeing victory and a place in the main draw.

Laura and Felipe are eliminated

Monteiro’s victory saved the day for the Brazilians at Foro Itálico, as the other two national representatives ended up being defeated in the last round of qualifying. The most painful defeat came from São Paulo’s Laura Pigossi, who won the first set and lost her lead in the third, but took the turn of Spanish Rebeka Masarova.

In turn, fellow São Paulo native Felipe Meligeni ended up being beaten in straight sets by Frenchman Gregoire Barrere. In the first round, he had a good victory over fellow Frenchman Hugo Gaston, currently 96th in the world, but he was unable to keep up and ended up, like Pigossi, being one victory away from the main draw.