ATP Madrid: Shang-Moutet entra nella storia con una maratona di 4 ore di gioco
There are matches that initially seem common like many others on paper, but as minutes go by, one realizes their uniqueness. Moutet-Shang is the perfect example: a normal first round that turns into the second longest challenge in the history of the Mutua Madrid Open with a whopping 3 hours and 58 minutes of play, according to data collected from the official competition website. The 19-year-old Chinese Juncheng Shang emerges victorious with a 6-7(9) 6-2 7-6(10) win, after advancing past the first round at Indian Wells and Miami, he also wins his first match in a 1000 on red clay; waiting for him will be Spanish player Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Returning to the epic match with Corentin Moutet, the challenge seems out of logic from the first set. By the ninth game, it could have been concluded, but the French tennis player squanders four set points with the Chinese stealing the service after five break points. However, in the next game, Shang risks ruining everything, but the native of Neuilly-sur-Seine adds three more set points to the “regrets” column. Fortunately for him, once the tie-break arrives with a score of 5-3, Moutet pulls ahead after two additional set points, with only one converted out of nine being decisive. It could have been worse as before the last two, Shang had three chances to close the set, but in that case, the 88th ranked player in the world managed to save and subsequently maintain composure.
The second set goes much more smoothly, just 52 minutes or slightly over half compared to the 110 minutes of the previous set. The match is then extended to nearly four hours by the third and decisive set: a break each before 6-6 and a dramatic tie-break. At 5-5, a pivotal moment in the game, Moutet loses control of his racquet while serving, which slips out of his left hand and falls to the ground. At that point, on Shang’s return and with nothing to respond, the 88th ranked French player unleashes all his anger by kicking the ball.
On the sixth match point available, without ever conceding one, the 111th ranked Chinese player closes out the tie-break by 12 points to 10, securing passage to the next round and facing Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, an opponent he lost to a month ago in Miami on cement. There was nothing to be done for Moutet, so physically and mentally exhausted that at one point, he went to ask the audience for coffee, receiving a little cup amidst laughter and applause. As mentioned, the match rightfully enters the history of the Spanish capital’s Open in terms of duration, second only to the 4 hours and 3 minutes of the 2009 semifinal between Nadal and Djokovic, won by the Mallorcan with a score of 3-6 7-6 7-6.
Christian Attanasio
