Moutet after his loss to Draper: "I felt the outcome could have been different"

Despite a strong fight, Corentin Moutet ultimately fell in his Round of 16 match against Jack Draper in Rome. After an excellent start, the Frenchman—who had defeated Holger Rune, his first top 10 victory, in the previous round—hoped to repeat that performance, but the Brit proved resilient in turning the match around (1-6, 6-4, 6-3).

The world No. 5 will now face Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Moutet aims to focus on the positives from his tournament as Roland-Garros approaches, where he reached the fourth round last year. In an interview with *L'Équipe*, the Frenchman shared his initial thoughts after the loss.

"I have mixed feelings. I’m happy with my game and my performance, but I also feel disappointed because I think I could have won this match. He deserved the win, but I believe I could have done a little better, stayed aggressive until the last point.

I have some regrets about certain moments. I played a really strong first set where I was super aggressive, not giving him much time to play. He’s more used to matches at this intensity.

He’s a great opponent—he hits hard, his ball is heavy, and it’s not always easy to reset and attack. I felt the outcome could have been different.

There were good things in this tournament, even in my first round (against Hijikata) where I struggled but still managed to pull through. There’s a lot to take away. Roland-Garros is in two weeks, so I’ll see how my body responds to these matches and get back to training," Moutet explained.