The step was too high for Corentin Moutet. The Frenchman was sharply and logically eliminated in the second round of Roland-Garros by Rafael Nadal in three sets (6-3, 6-1, 6-4) on Wednesday May 25. Even if he sometimes managed to stand up to the most successful player on the Parisian ocher despite his status as the 139th player in the world, he will not offer himself a 3rd round as in 2019.
The Frenchman defended his chances, regularly emerging as the winner in long exchanges. But he spent a large part of his match chasing his opponent, being broken from the start of the first and second innings. The third was more hung, Moutet taking Nadal’s serve twice, but had the same outcome, despite the ardent support from the stands.
Corentin Moutet faced the same Rafael Nadal who had given Richard Gasquet a bad evening last year, already in the second round (without the coldness of the closed session of the first night sessions). Again, the Spaniard was simply more powerful and more lucid. Above all, he was unstoppable in the exchanges that Moutet already saw himself winning. A “not too strong Rafa” even came from the mouth of a spectator at 6-3, 4-1.
300. By beating Corentin Moutet, @Rafael Nadal won the 300th Grand Slam match of his career, the 107th in #Roland Garros. pic.twitter.com/EgynNw2sxP
— Game, Set and Maths (@JeuSetMaths) May 25, 2022
What to reassure, in the wake of his easy victory against Jordan Thompson in the first round (6-2, 6-2, 6-2), because there were doubts about his state of form, less than two weeks after his exit in the 3rd round of the Masters 1000 in Rome. During his first speech at Roland-Garros, before his entry into the running, he did not want to hide his face vis-à-vis his foot pain (he has Müller-Weiss syndrome) which increasingly disabled. “The pain is still there. The question is not whether it will go away but how tolerable it is to allow me to play here with a real chance“, he warned reporters before the tournament.
Nevertheless, the horizon is starting to brighten for Rafael Nadal. The world No. 5, whose preparation for the clay season was thwarted by a rib injury, did not show the slightest sign of physical weakness on Wednesday evening. He will find the Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, seeded n°26, in the 3rd round.