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Corentin Moutet made frequent use of the underarm serve during his opening-round win at the 2023 Chengdu Open, defeating local player Tao Mu on Wednesday, September 20.
Moutet played his signature unconventional style of tennis to better World No. 573 in 1 hour and 18 minutes, 6-2, 6-2. The Frenchmen used his underarm serve multiple times, debuting it in the first service point of the match. In the early stages of the contest, Moutet played one underarm serve per game, with over 10 underarm serves in the first 7 service games.
During the post-match on-court interview, Corentin Moutet was asked about his increased use of this atypical serve style. The World No. 122 explained that he has been working hard to completely change his serving action, as the underarm serves is proving more effective for him than the regular style. He hopes to switch to the unorthodox style in every point in the future.
"Yeah, I'm working hard on it. I think I have to do more. It's working better than my normal serve. So I think I should do it lot. I think maybe every point in the future," Moutet said.
Corentin Moutet is among a few ATP Tour players who regularly deploy the underarm serve in their matches. The Frenchmen put a spin on the style, attempting a behind-the-back underarm serve during his match against John Isner at the Newport Open in July. However, the effort was fruitless as the ball landed long.
Corentin Moutet to face either Miomir Kecmanovic or Benjamin Lock in R2 in Chengdu
Corentin Moutet's next opponent at the Chengdu Open will either be No. 7 seed Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia or qualifier Benjamin Lock of Zimbabwe. The second round clash will take place on Friday, September 22. Moutet hopes to notch just his 8th win on the 2023 ATP Tour.
Before the victory over Mu, the 24-year-old last won on the ATP Tour at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, US, in July, where he defeated American Eliot Spizzirri in the first round. Since then, he has lost in the first round at the Atlanta Open, Citi Open, Canadian Open, Western and Southern Open, and the US Open.
Alexander Zverev, Lorenzo Musetti, Grigor Dimitrov, and Dan Evans are the top four seeds in Chengdu this week. The prize pool of the fifth edition of the ATP 250 tournament is $1,152,805, with the men's singles champion earning $175,340 and 250 ranking points. The Chengdu Open marks the return of the ATP Tour to China for the first time since 2019.
