Moutet Ousts Top Seed Shapovalov In Estoril
After their rap song “Drip” welcomed them to the court at the Millennium Estoril Open, musical collaborators Corentin Moutet and Denis Shapovalov faced each other off the mic for the first time Thursday. The Frenchman upset the ATP 250 top seed 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in two hours and six minutes to move into the quarter-finals.
“It was a very close match,” Moutet said on-court. “Today I’m lucky that I won at the end. A few points decided the winner.”
The Canadian and Frenchman released their rap song together last year, following Shapovalov’s first single “Night Train”.
The victory marks his second Top 20 win of the year (he defeated Grigor Dimitrov in his semi-final run at the Murray River Open). Shapovalov was seeking his first win as a top seed.
After the 22-year-old lefties traded sets, Moutet broke to start the third set. Shapovalov recovered for a 3-1 lead, and then the World No. 14 misfired on a few key moments. Moutet had the win in his sights by reeling off four games in a row.
“It was who will play less worst today,” the World No. 73 said. “I think he didn’t play his best level. I’m really happy to win, of course, because he’s such a great player.”
Next up for Moutet is Albert Ramos-Vinolas as the Spaniard improved to 13-5 on clay this season with a 6-2, 7-6(3) win over Pierre-Hugues Herbert. It marks his first win over the Frenchman in three attempts.
Earlier on Thursday, Cameron Norrie defeated wild card Pedro Martinez 4-6, 7-6(1), 7-5. The Brit is into his fourth quarter-final of 2021 and takes on second seed Cristian Garin next. The Chilean didn’t take the court on Thursday after Richard Gasquet withdrew with a left adductor injury.