Will Rafa build on his incredible French Open record?
Sand court expert Rafael Nadal may have already claimed three tournament victories in 2022 and also triumphed at the 2022 Australian Open, but all three titles have come on hard court. In the clay-court season, the bull from Manacor was most recently slowed down by pain in his foot. This made the Mallorcan’s opening match at the French Open all the more impressive, in which Rafa surrendered just six games.
A real clash between two former overall winners of the French Open almost took place. However, 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka was thwarted by Paris local Corentin Moutet after leading 1-0. Nevertheless, in the run-up to the second-round match between Corentin Moutet and Rafael Nadal, the odds are clearly in the Spaniard’s favour.
Rafael Nadal is “Mr. French Open” par excellence. On Monday, the Spaniard played his 109th singles match at Roland Garros. In the process, the bull from Manacor celebrated his already 106th victory. This corresponds to an incredible win rate of 97.2%, which could potentially last for eternity.
Consequently, nothing should go wrong for Rafa in the second round. Provided, of course, that his foot complaints don’t put a spanner in the works. Since that cannot be ruled out, it makes the most sense to bet on Corentin Moutet against Rafael Nadal with an Asian handicap of +10.5 games.
For this, the underdog would have to win at least eight games in three sets in the event of a 3-0 victory for the Spaniard, which he is certainly capable of doing.
Corentin Moutet – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 139
Seeded List Position: Wildcard
The 23-year-old Frenchman Corentin Moutet already took part in the qualification for the French Open in the summer of 2015 at the tender age of 16, but only managed to qualify for the men’s singles for the first time three years later.
In the meantime, the man whose father owns a restaurant in Paris is taking part in the Grand Slam tournament in his home country for the fifth time in a row. He celebrated his fourth victory in the men’s singles this year and also beat Stan Wawrinka, a former overall winner.
Comeback victory despite meagre performance data
It was remarkable that the 23-year-old, who has never won a title on the ATP Tour before, managed a comeback victory. After just 27 minutes, the Frenchman had finally dropped the first set 2:6.
In the end, however, in two hours and 51 minutes, he still made it into the second round. And this despite the fact that Moutet hardly brought any impressive figures onto the court. Just 57% of all first serves were served. Moreover, the man from the Parisian suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine only converted five of his eleven break chances.
Still winless in six matches against Top 10 players
It is clear that Moutet will have to improve in all areas if he wants to stand up to the bull from Manacor, who always soars in his own spheres at Roland Garros. But it is also clear that the local hero has absolutely nothing to lose.
Rafael Nadal – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 5
Position in the seedings: 5
The 35-year-old Spaniard Rafael Nadal made history at the 2022 Australian Open. With his triumph in the final, he not only completed his second career Grand Slam, but also claimed his 21st Grand Slam title.
Rafa thus enters the French Open as the sole Grand Slam record winner, having already recorded 13 overall victories. Last year, however, he was defeated by Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.
106 of the 109 singles won at the French Open
Still, the Bull of Manacor brings an intangible aura to Roland Garros. The Mallorcan has played 109 singles matches so far at the clay court Grand Slam in France. In the end, he has won 106 matches – a win rate of 97.2%.
However, it is problematic that the 35-year-old, who made an incredible start to the 2022 season with 21 wins in a row, has recently been struggling with pain in his foot. Although the Spaniard already has three singles titles in the current season, he recently remained without another title win in the clay court season of all things.
Only six games conceded in the opening match
Just in time for the French Open, however, Rafa presented himself in his usual form again. There was no sign of any foot problems as the bull from Manacor swept Australian Jordan Thompson 3-0 (6-2, 6-2, 6-2) in two hours and two minutes from centre court.
The player from Majorca scored on his opponent’s serve in 54% of all cases and landed a total of seven breaks in the three-setter. If he can produce these strong results again, Corentin Moutet’s chances of advancing to the third round against Rafael Nadal will be very good.
Corentin Moutet – Rafael Nadal Direct comparison / H2H-balance
Head to head: 0:0
Both players face each other for the first time in a singles match. Accordingly, there is no “head to head” data available that could influence the forecast in the case of Corentin Moutet vs. Rafael Nadal
Corentin Moutet – Rafael Nadal Tip
Rafael Nadal goes into the match with Corentin Moutet as the heavy favourite, who has already lost more singles matches in four appearances at the French Open (four out of seven) than the Majorcan has in 17 appearances (three defeats from 109 singles). The only question is how many games the French outsider will be able to take from the ATP Tour’s clay-court king in the second round
The bull from Manacor had to struggle with foot complaints during the preparation. There was no sign of them at Roland Garros. Nevertheless, the foot could be a factor that earns the outsider a game or two.
