Corentin Moutet and Rafael Nadal meet in the second round of the 2022 tennis French Open.
Corentin Moutet is coming off a four sets win over Stan Wawrinka that took 39 games to decide. In the victory, Moutet won 72 percent of his first serve points and 54 percent of his second serve points. Moutet won 64 percent of his total service points and converted on five of his 11 break points. Moutet flipped a switch after dropping the first set, but he has to be better with his first serve percentage if he’s going to be competitive in this match. Moutet looks to make the third round of a grand slam for the third time in his career. Moutet hasn’t made the third round of the French Open since 2019. Moutet has lost five of his last seven matches on clay court.
Rafael Nadal is coming off a straight set win over Jordan Thompson that took 24 games to decide. In the victory, Nadal won 73 percent of his first serve points and 77 percent of his second serve points. Nadal won 75 percent of his total service points and converted on seven of his 11 break points. Nadal was nearly flawless outside of being broken once, and he won his match in just over two hours. It’s quick and painless victories that will help Nadal make a deep run, as it allows him to stay off his feet and rest up. Nadal hasn’t lost before the third round of a grand slam since the 2016 Australian Open. Nadal has never lost before the third round in the French Open. Nadal has won four of his last six matches on clay court.
There’s no match history between these two players.
Moutet doesn’t have the experience on this stage or against the quality of player to help him be competitive here. Yes, Moutet may get some support from the crowd given he’s the home player, but even that will be limited given the opponent. It’s hard to make a case for Moutet to even steal a set in this match.
Give me Nadal in straight sets.