Corentin Moutet uses some trickery to beat wild card Luca Nardi in Naples nailbiter
The world No. 65 drew whistles from the crowd when he showed off with a bit of flair, but ultimately rallied to win, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 6-2, on Wednesday.
NAPLES, Italy (AP) — Corentin Moutet drew whistles from the crowd when he showed off with a bit of trickery as he rallied past 19-year-old Italian wild card Luca Nardi 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the first round of the Napoli Cup on Wednesday.
In the second-set tiebreaker, Moutet faked hitting an overhead by swinging his racket through the air then won the point with a drop shot instead. The 65th-ranked Frenchman required more than 3½ hours to finish Nardi off.
Also on the outdoor hard courts of the Tennis Club Napoli, sixth-seeded Sebastian Baez defeated home favorite Lorenzo Sonego 7-5, 7-6 (3) to end an 11-match losing streak. Roberto Carballes Baena beat Chilean qualifier Nicolas Jarry 6-4, 6-4 and will next face second-seeded Matteo Berrettini.
Berrettini accepted a late wild card after losing his opening match to Carballes Baena in Florence last week.
Chinese qualifier Zhang Zhizhen was leading Marton Fucsovics 6-2, 2-2 and Croatian qualifier Borna Gojo was leading Laslo Djere 6-4, 5-5 when both matches were suspended because of humidity and slippery conditions on the courts situated next to the bay.
Naples was awarded a single-year license to host the ATP 250-level tournament.