World number 1 Carlos Alcaraz, winner without trembling over the last Frenchman in the running Corentin Moutet (6-2, 6-4, 6-1) in 2h05, was more smiling than ever after his demonstration.
“I’m happy to have played against him, I had fun. It’s not easy against a player like Moutet; you never know what to expect. We both produced some great points, and there was a lot of action. I loved it, and I’m glad I beat him.”declared the 22-year-old Spaniard, looking for a first title in Melbourne. The two men had never faced each other on the circuit before. And the shock was very unbalanced. This opposition between two excellent ball handlers only kept its promise of spectacle intermittently, including because of numerous unforced errors (20 for Alcaraz, 34 for Moutet over the entire match).
Moutet tried to disrupt his opponent with drop shots, spoon serves… In vain. At one point, “I told my box that I was tired of running on his pads”said Alcaraz, himself a big fan of this move. “But today, it was he who won the battle (of the number) of amortizations”the Spaniard laughed after his 100th Grand Slam victory.
