“I wish I could give him a better battle” - Novak Djokovic's Italian Open 2R opponent Corentin Moutet apologizes for underwhelming performance

Corentin Moutet apologized for his underwhelming performance against Novak Djokovic at the 2024 Italian Open. However, the resolute Frenchman vowed to do everything in his power to get another opportunity to compete against a player of the Serb's caliber.

The Frenchman has found a place in the main draw of every tournament at the European claycourt swing including the Italian Open where he kicked off his run against Roman Safiullin. He managed to come back from behind to defeat the Russian in a hard-fought three-set battle.

The 25-year-old then met Novak Djokovic in the second round and started off brilliantly by breaking the Serb in the very first game of the match. However, the World No. 1 broke Moutet back immediately and from there onwards completely dominated him and won the match 6-3, 6-1 in an hour and 24 minutes.

Moutet took to X (formerly Twitter) to apologize to everyone for his performance wishing he could have managed to give the crowd and the Serb a tougher fight. The resolute Frenchman then said that he was going to give it his best shot to present himself with the opportunity to play against a player of Djokovic's caliber and ended the tweet by thanking his supporters.

"Sorry about my performance tonight. I wish I could give you and him a better battle but I didn’t manage to do it. Nothing but respect to Novak of course for all he achieved and what he is doing for the players and tennis. I will work hard to get an other opportunity to play against him again. See you next time, Le chemin continue Thank you for the support 🙏," Moutet wrote.

Novak Djokovic will face Chile's Alejandro Tabilo in Italian Open 3R

Internazionali BNL D'Italia 2024 - Day Five

After a comprehensive win in the opening match, Novak Djokovic will look to take this momentum into the third round where he will face 29th seed Alejandro Tabilo, who defeated Yannick Hanfmann in straight sets in his opening match. This will be the first meeting between the two players.

The World No. 32 has struggled so far at the European clay court swing facing early exits at the Monte-Carlo Masters and the Madrid Masters. However, the Chilean found some momentum at the Aix-en Provence where he defeated Jaume Munar in the final to clinch the title.

On the other hand, Djokovic will continue the search for his seventh title in Rome and the first title of this season.