“It feels really good,” admits Corentin Moutet after qualifying for the round of 16 at the US Open.

This will be your first round of 16 in a Grand Slam, how do you feel?
It feels good. I had two 3rd rounds on complicated matches. Facing Félix (Auger-Aliassime, US Open 2020), I missed my match. Against Londero (Roland-Garros 2019), we know the match (defeat in five sets), it was tough. It feels really good to have managed to win and get away with it today. Basically, a Grand Slam is super long when you start in the table, so when you get to qualifying, it’s even longer, it’s three weeks to get to the end. This is my best result at the moment, I don’t plan on anything either. It’s good.

What is your greatest source of satisfaction, what do you like about your game today?
To tell the truth, I am satisfied when I win a match. Today, I am no more satisfied than usual. I’m just happy to have got out of it, to have found the solutions to win the match. I was very tense, I didn’t play very well by the way. I think that’s my first quality: trying to find solutions. Sometimes I’m less stable than some players, but each time, I’m there to defend well, to hang on, run fast, run long, find solutions, believe in myself to try to win against anybody. There is not an opponent against whom I enter the field without believing in myself. That’s what I’m proud of and what I’ve been building for years.

In the round of 16, it will be Casper Ruud, seeded n°5, an opponent you have never met?
He is a very good player, he made the final at Roland-Garros. It is super solid complete, it does everything well. It’s going to be a good match to make. I’ve never played it, I don’t really know what to expect, but solutions, there will surely be some. To see if I manage to find them, to exploit them.