![\"Corentin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/moutet-australian-open-round-2-celebration.jpg\")
<\/p>\n ATP Tour
\n Moutet talks underarm serves & previews Alcaraz clash: ‘It’s going to be fun’<\/p>\n
Frenchman will take on Spanish World No. 1 for first time on Friday in Melbourne<\/p>\n
January 22, 2026<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Izhar Khan\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Corentin Moutet salutes the crowd after his second-round win against Michael Zheng on Wednesday at the Australian Open.
\n By Andy West<\/p>\n
When Corentin Moutet<\/a> steps on a tennis court, you never know quite what to expect. <\/p>\n The 26-year-old Frenchman is renowned for the flair and unpredictability of his lefty game. He is a mercurial talent who will on Friday attempt to craft an upset against the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Carlos Alcaraz<\/a>, in the third round at the Australian Open<\/a>. <\/p>\n Moutet has already shown glimpses of his showmanship this week at Melbourne Park. Stepping up to the line at match point against Tristan Schoolkate<\/a> in the first round, the Frenchman completed his win by using a shot he has become synonymous with: the underarm serve. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m quite happy about the one I did on match point, because I surprised myself doing it,\u201d Moutet told ATPTour.com on Wednesday. \u201cI didn\u2019t think about it, [my opponent] was quite close to the baseline, and I still did it.\u201d <\/p>\n Underarm serves have in the past been known to cause strong reactions from some players and fans but Moutet, who used the shot six times in one match last June in Mallorca, is clear on his position that how and when the shot is used is key. <\/p>\n \u201cIf you do it to provoke the crowd, that\u2019s different. For myself, I do it when I think I can win the point,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m here on the court to win every point, so I will never do something just for fun. That\u2019s not who I am. I respect all my opponents, and I respect the crowd of course even when they are against me, because they bring a great energy and they are here to support someone. <\/p>\n \u201cMaybe it\u2019s going to change because we are seeing more and more players doing it, because it is efficient and it is working. From my side, I never do it to disrespect anyone. So as long as it works, I am going to keep doing it\u2026 I think it saved me a few times. [Like] against Daniil [Medvedev] in Washington last year.\u201d <\/p>\n The current No. 37 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Moutet is bidding to back up a personal-best 2025 season in which he earned 33 tour-level wins, according to the Infosys ATP Win\/Loss Index. His Friday clash with Alcaraz will be the pair\u2019s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. <\/p>\n \u201cI never practised with him and never played against him, so it will be a surprise, I think, even for him,\u201d said Moutet, when asked about how his game style might clash with Alcaraz. \u201cI\u2019m trying not to overthink how it will be. I\u2019m just going to come on the court with my game style, with all the work we did with my team to be ready for these matches. I feel healthy. <\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s see, but for sure it\u2019s going to be fun. Nice points, I guess. He is very physical and talented as well, so it\u2019s going to be interesting. Let\u2019s see how I can deal with it.\u201d <\/p>\n You May Also Like: Alcaraz envies Federer’s golf game: ‘As beautiful as the tennis!’<\/a><\/p>\n Moutet will be chasing his third victory against a Top 10 opponent when he steps on Rod Laver<\/a> Arena to face Alcaraz. Last season, the Frenchman defeated then-No. 10 Holger Rune<\/a> and then-No. 4 Taylor Fritz<\/a> at the Queen\u2019s Club, but he knows that taking on the current World No. 1, who is bidding to complete the Career Grand Slam by lifting the Australian Open<\/a> trophy, will likely be another step up. <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a very nice guy and a great player,” said Moutet of the Spaniard. “One of the best, I think along with Jannik [Sinner]. They are the two best players at the moment. I\u2019ve really wanted to play against him because I want to see the highest level on the Tour. I\u2019m working hard to reach this level, so it\u2019s always interesting to see what\u2019s going on there and how they play. So I\u2019m curious and very happy to play against him.\u201d <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATP Tour Moutet talks underarm serves & previews Alcaraz clash: ‘It’s going to be fun’ Frenchman will take…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422655,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[99,428],"class_list":{"0":"post-422654","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\u201cATP\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767418027_359_atp-no-1-club-banner-article.jpg\")
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