Photo Source: TTV
Corentin Moutet upset fourth-ranked Taylor Fritz at Queen’s Club – but not before he took one on the noggin in the final set.
The Frenchman was hit directly in the head by a Fritz’ forehand in the tenth game of the final set (see video below). He went down on the court, but eventually got to his feet and had a quick handshake with Fritz at the net to say “no bad blood.” Moutet was serving for the match at the time, and was eventually broken by the No.3 seed. But he continued to fight and took the final two games to lock down his first career Top-5 win, 6-7(5) 7-6(7) 7-5.
Moutet, who recently earned his first career Top-10 win in Rome, defeating Hoger Rune in the third round, saved a match point in the second set against Fritz, at 6-7 in the tiebreak, as well.
“It’s my second [Top-10 win] this year and in my life,” Moutet said. “We’ve been working so hard with my team, I won three matches here, very close matches, and I’m so happy that it pays off in this tournament. We were waiting for these kinds of results and it was a bit frustrating since the beginning of the year, because I was close.”
Fritz, who won the Stuttgart title without dropping serve once two days ago, was defending quarterfinal points at Queen’s. He was broken twice against Moutet, and only managed one break against the southpaw.
“It was quite intense,” Moutet said. “Against [Top-10] it’s all about details. They don’t have weaknesses so you have to be very precise. I love it because that’s how I improve as a player, that’s how I will be able to play bigger matches and improve my ranking and my game. It’s beautiful to play these matches to improve my game and happy that I made the best of it today.”
Fritz wasn't the only seeded American to fall on Tuesday. Sixth-seeded Ben Shelton was defeated by lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech in two tiebreaks, 7-6(5) 7-6(4).
89th-ranked Moutet, who qualified for the main draw, will face Great Britain’s Jacob Fearnley in the second round.