Qualifier Llamas Ruiz outlasts Moutet over three hours to extend Cinderella run in Rome
Pablo Llamas Ruiz arrived at the Foro Italico as a qualifier ranked No. 139 and walked off Court 1 having played his sixth match in eight days. The Spaniard outlasted Corentin Moutet (No 28) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 in three hours and two minutes.
Pablo Llamas Ruiz, Roma 2026 | © Inside / PsNewz
Spanish qualifier Pablo Llamas Ruiz, the world No. 139, knocked out 28th seed Corentin Moutet of France 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 in the second round of the Rome Masters, surviving a three-hour, two-minute baseline grind to set up a third-round meeting with Daniil Medvedev.
Moutet is the sixth seeded man out of the draw and the second to fall on Saturday after Cameron Norrie, joining Novak Djokovic (No. 4), Alex de Minaur (No. 6), Valentin Vacherot (No. 22, withdrew before his opener) and Tallon Griekspoor (No. 27) on the casualty list. Norrie (No. 17) lost earlier in the day to Thiago Tirante.
This is only the sixth ATP Tour main-draw appearance of Llamas Ruiz’s career, the bulk of his 2026 tennis having been played on the Challenger circuit, where he won the Alicante title in February by beating Pablo Carreño Busta in the final.
His best previous result on the main tour was a quarter-final run in Umag last July, also as a qualifier. The 23-year-old from Jerez de la Frontera came through three rounds of qualifying in Rome before main-draw wins over Henrique Rocha, Jaime Faria and Ethan Quinn earlier in the week. He will move to a career-high ranking next week, climbing to around No. 122 from his current No. 139.
Moutet, more than a hundred places higher in the rankings, twice broke serve to lead in the deciding set and could not close it out. The result is a hard one for the Frenchman, who produced one of the great performances of his career at the Foro Italico last year by defeating Holger Rune.
Medvedev next
He defends 90 ranking points from that run, and his place in the top 30 is now uncertain. This loss in a new Masters 1000 deception after a first-round defeat to Daniel Mérida at the Mutua Madrid Open last week.
Medvedev is a steep step up, but Llamas Ruiz has earned the right to be there the hard way — six matches in eight days at the Foro Italico, every one of them played from outside the seedings.
