A costly breakdown: Moutet’s completely missed volley between the legs that turned his Davis Cup match
Corentin Moutet lost in three sets against Raphaël Collignon this Tuesday during the first singles match of the Davis Cup quarter-final between France and Belgium. Beaten after easily winning the first set, the Frenchman made an incredible mistake to swing the duel in favor of the Belgian.
Corentin Moutet (35th in the world) lost the first match of the Davis Cup quarter-final between France and Belgium in Bologna on Tuesday, forcing the Blues to win the next two matches or face elimination.
The French number 2 lost in three sets against Raphaël Collignon (86th) after a match full of twists and turns (6-2, 5-7, 5-7). Well begun by Moutet, the match turned at the end of the second set, on the Frenchman’s serve
A breakdown at Moutet turns the match
Leading 6-5, 15-15, the left-hander attempted a “tweener” (a shot hit between the legs) to spectacularly conclude a point that seemed to be his.
But with the court completely open to him, he sent the ball into the net. Raphaël Collignon gave himself two set points on the next point and hit the mark on his second opportunity to level the score at one set each.
In the third set, Corentin Moutet was no longer able to trouble Raphaël Collignon, who only dropped one point in his six service games. After saving four break points, the 26-year-old Frenchman finally cracked at 6-5 with a double fault that gave Belgium the victory after 2 hours and 33 minutes of combat.
If Zizou Bergs (43rd) wins the second singles against French No. 1 Arthur Rinderknech (29th), France will be eliminated and Belgium will earn the right to face Austria or Italy, the two-time defending champions, in the final four. In the event of Rinderknech’s victory, a decisive doubles match will determine the outcome of this tenth duel between the two teams in the Davis Cup (6 wins to 3 for France).
JGL with AFP
