Corentin Moutet, 112th in the world and drafted from qualifying, qualified for the round of 16 of the US Open on Friday, a first for him in a Grand Slam, by defeating the Argentinian Pedro Cachin (66th) 6-3 , 4-6, 6-2, 7-5. For his fifth participation, the 23-year-old Frenchman, who had never passed the third round in a Major before, will face the Norwegian Casper Ruud (5th), finalist of the last Roland-Garros, with the key to a place in the quarter-finals. .
If Moutet fought 3h17 to dismiss Cachin, notably coming back from 0-4 in the fourth set before winning, his next opponent will have had even more trouble to be there. Ruud indeed took 4h23 to beat the American Tommy Paul (34th) 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/2), 5-7, 6-0 . Moutet had already reached the 3rd round in New York in 2020, his best result in a major, already achieved at Roland-Garros in 2019.