Lin Yun-Ju vs Flavien Coton | MS R32 | #WTTMacao 2026

You're not going to hear much from him, and you're certainly not going to see much emotion, but there'll be plenty from his coach. One, all. Wang Yijie. Two, one. The French fans who want the best for him is that his game is a little bit all or nothing at the moment. Oh! Three. That's a double whammy. You can see he's trying to be so aggressive for that exact reason. Because he's willing to risk it all. Oh, a shot. Chinese Taipei in the US smash, and lost that one in a shock defeat. We're getting close to the best of the day stuff here, and I've got a feeling it might come in this match. They've just got it about them, haven't they? Managed to hold his ground and then launch some counters of his own. I mean, it might be pugilistic. A lot wider than he once was. Seven, four. All the shots are coming in. And this is like the complete opposite of a match. Nine, five. We've tasted a lot of cards coming out for time-wasting. Five game points. Eleven, five. Game lid. Well, it looked earlier on in that game as if it was going to be far more competitive. Five, one. Anything slightly slow is going to invite a counter. One, all. Again, there, he's just given the opportunity. Two, one. This is what I mean, anything slightly slow is going to invite a counter. Absolutely teed off on it. There he goes again. Wants to get on that forehand. He goes one way with one, and then into out with the other. It's risky, because sometimes you can get... Two, three. Love that. Four, two. That backhand. Just overcooked it. Four, all. Five, all. ...work with a player like Flavia. Alexis here. Alexis is going to be playing Man of Tackle. Very supportive, all the French team. Six, all. And this is the risk-reward again for... Seven, six. And he's just missed again. You'll see him really reach high into those world rankings. Six, eight. But there's the problem, and that's why... Four, six, five. He was there. He was waiting, and he uncaught something special. Counter-punch knockout. And it even brought a fist pump out. How on earth do you win that point? Nine, seven. He's hanging in there. Does Li Mingru try and counter it, or does he try and avoid it? He didn't avoid it. Paid the price. ...succeeding at the moment. And he's turned this around to the extent that he now has a game point. Oh, what is that? Improvisation from the Frenchman. Genius. And he levels this one up. Was that a lean-back slap? Forehand shot from Coton. At game point, this forehand counter was money. Off the edge by the look of it, that is ridiculous, Flavia and Coton. And there are those who say he can go all the way, he can be as good as anyone. And on the evidence of upward mobility, 31 world-ranking places improvement. Went for something similar. So, so good. His ceiling is so high. Coton. But Li Mingru is a beast. Alexi with his feet up in the background there. Three, love. The other doesn't attack it with the backhand. Two, three. Four, three. Went for the paint. Coton attacking over the table. His recovery is so good. He apologised, but both of them have just decided no more backhand. Over the piece. He's just in front now in this match. And that's it. He's willing to risk it. Six. Fired on. Six. Seven. Is it time now to go back? And the round of 32. Eight. Six. He's just up. Nine. What a run this is. Oh, whoa. Ten. How did that get through? With that run of six of the last eight points, it takes him to the brink now of this third game. Seven. Doesn't take one of the four. Eight. Seven. This guy is peripherally on the lookout. He wins. It is the time to do it. Went the same way again, but Lin Wenru is so tidy, so technical, so good that he was in position. A lot of the times he was going to the crossover, to the body of Coton. One. Love. And there's a show of front. The pressure is piling on the shoulders of this young man. Love. He has to make those. If he's going to play that game, he has to. Needs this point badly. But doesn't get it. And now the odds seem to be stacked against him. Four. Beautiful. And that's a terrifying four for the rest of the top 20 in the world. Two. That was expansive and a bit edgy. He's had a couple of those, hasn't he? The way he plays, I guess. That's it. And his racket angle is closed over. So you will catch more top edges. The grunt. The effort. And it was worth it. He's in front. Six. Four. Out of eight points. Who'd have thought it? Five. Now he surrenders one. Do you just serve long and try and open it up and take your chance there? He went for it. Of course he went for it. And he has two of his own. And he can serve his way into a fifth game. Nine. Six. Ten. That's as good as it gets. This is why the number one spot in the world rankings at one point. Four game points for Tutu. Around he goes. Seven. No way. Just a quick look at Coton to see that he's okay. Just went down in a little bit of a heap having extended there. Couldn't push off and come back. This is the level that Lin Wenru has been forced to play at as well. Eleven. He dug deep literally. And he got his reward there because he takes us into a fifth. Seriously impressive because this is a very dangerous silent assassin as well. Who's playing well. Sometimes we see Lin Wenru lose. He's fighting fire with fire. And remarkably he's coming out on top. But he faces two tough serves now. And makes it look relatively easy. Against this Phenom from France. Poor love. And then the brakes go. Pedal to the metal. Foot down. Full acceleration. There you go. Bounced it. Change of ends. Six. Wow. Coton. One. And then he's just murdering the ball. Eight. One. And it's only going one way right now. And that is. He's made of some fine fabric here. Two. Eight. Two. Nine. That wasn't the best of serves as it turned out. This is why we want to see Coton risk everything. Because when it's going on. He can beat anyone. Nine. Three. But he got his one win. Number four seed for a reason. Nine. Four. And he's number four seed. By a long serve now. Oh. This is going to take some winning for the Frenchman. He did serve. And he does that. And he serves. Eleven. Six. That is magnifique in Macau. From Flavien Coton. What a win. This was by no means plain sailing. He had to fight back to get into the match. And in the midway stage of the match. He went on a run of points. Taking some 13 out of 16. Towards the end. And those were the little bursts of genius. That took him past a player. Who make no mistake. He was not far away from his best. In this match as well. That makes it all the more impressive. From the 18 year old. Who has.