Corentin Moutet (Twitter)
The Norwegian No. 1 Casper Ruud reached the quarterfinals of the US Open after winning his match against Corentin Moutet 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2.
Corentin Moutet, a lucky loser, showed glimpses of his brilliance, especially in the third set, where he put in a spirited performance to win by the barest of margins.
Ruud entered the match as the favorite and didn’t disappoint his fans. He is one of the three contenders to become World No. 1 at the end of the US Open. The 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal and the talented youngster Carlos Alcaraz are the other two players who can reach the pinnacle of the ATP rankings.
During Moutet’s match against Ruud, a bizarre incident happened. The World No. 128 did push-ups after losing a point when leading 40-30 in the first game of the second set. The 23-year-old performed close to 10 push-ups as the fans at the Arthur Ashe Stadium looked on in bewilderment.
The Frenchman hit a couple of balls into the crowd and received a point penalty. Ruud told the umpire that he had done the same thing twice so he should have gotten a game penalty. An irate Moutet responded: “Give it to him”.
Moutet received a time violation in the fourth set when he was 5-2 down. He began arguing with the umpire after the incident.
Casper Ruud will lock horns with Italy’s Matteo Berrettini in the quarterfinals of the US Open.
Matteo Berrettini defeated the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the fourth round to reach the quarterfinals. The 26-year-old reached the Australian Open semifinal earlier in the year. He has also bagged two titles in 2022.
Ruud and Berrettini faced each other in July in the Swiss Open final. Berrettini won the first set but Ruud came back strongly to win the match 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.
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