Moutet takes advantage of luck, wins and challenges Djokovic in Rome

Rome Italy) – Number 1 seed, Serbian Novak Djokovic met his first opponent this Thursday in his debut at the Masters 1000 in Rome. He will open his campaign against Frenchman Corentin Moutet, who despite defeat to Ceará’s Thiago Monteiro in the last of the qualifiersentered as a lucky-loser and made it through the first round.

Moutet faced the Russian Roman Safiullin in his debut in the main draw at Foro Itálico, lost and fought to seek a comeback, triumphing with the final score of 3/6, 7/6 (7-1) and 6/2, after 2h33 of confrontation. This was the Frenchman’s second victory over the current world number 39 in three games, but his first at ATP level.

Occupying 83rd place in the rankings, the 25-year-old Frenchman lost to Djokovic the only time they met previously. Even playing at home, Moutet was no match for the leader of the rankings, who won in straight sets five years ago at the Masters 1000 in Paris. The Serb has 130 wins and 21 losses against tennis players from France.

Djokovic’s last defeat to a French opponent was in 2018, in his debut at the Masters 1000 in Miami, when he fell to Benoit Paire in straight sets. After that, ‘Nole’ has been racking up victories over opponents from France, with 24 consecutive victories, four of them over Gael Monfils, his most frequent victim in the period.