By Rory Carroll
NEW YORK (Reuters) – France’s Corentin Moutet on Friday became the first lucky loser to reach the fourth round of the U.S. Open following his 6-3 4-6 6-2 7-5 win over Argentine Pedro Cachin.
Moutet is the first men’s lucky loser to reach the fourth round at any Grand Slam event since another Frenchman, Stephane Robert, did so at the 2014 Australian Open.
The lucky loser is a player who lost during qualifiers but makes the main draw because of a withdrawal and has his name picked at random.
Moutet will be a huge underdog when he faces fifth seed Casper Ruud, who emerged victorious after a four-hour-and-23-minute battle with American Tommy Paul by the score of 7-6(3) 6-7(5) 7-6(2) 5-7 6-0.
With the win Ruud became the first Norwegian man to reach the second week at the U.S. Open.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in New York; Editing by Stephen Coates)
