Despite his talent, tennis player Corentin Moutet is primarily known for his hot temper and scandalous actions. It is all the more surprising that his role model is the less scandalous Rafael Nadal, who, unlike Moutet, does not throw rackets around.
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Born and raised in Paris, Moutet also showed his extraordinary talent at an early age. His rapid rise through the junior ranks raised high hopes and many predicted a bright future for him.
But the really big successes have so far remained elusive. The Frenchman is currently ranked 83rd in the ATP world rankings – and yet his tennis videos are sometimes more present on social media than those of some top 10 players.
Where there is Moutet, there is also chaos
Because where there is Moutet, there is also chaos.
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From the outspoken way of expressing his often controversial opinions to suspensions and fines to scuffles, the Frenchman keeps the tennis world on its toes. The list of scandals that have accompanied Moutet’s career is as long as it is varied.
The latest incident occurred in Rome at the 2024 Italian Open, where he will face world number one Novak Djokovic on Friday evening. The 25-year-old was previously able to defeat his opponent Roman Safiullin, but this performance was remembered for more than just positive reasons.
When he was about to lose the first set, he stopped defending completely at short notice. Moutet did not react at all to his opponent’s serve and instead went prematurely towards the bench. He received some boos for this unsportsmanlike action.
He later ensured reconciliation with the audience when, to the delight of the spectators, he artistically kept the ball in the air with his racket until his opponent was ready to continue the game.
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An incident at the Mutua Madrid Open 2024 was less pleasant. In the game against Juncheng Shang, he got into a verbal exchange with the referee because of a missing cup of coffee.
The 25-year-old insisted that a cup of coffee be brought to him, but the referee replied: “It doesn’t matter where we play, no coffee will be offered.”
Moutet couldn’t pull himself together and finally received his long-awaited coffee from a fan, who was then expelled from the stands at the referee’s request.
The Frenchman’s uncontrolled anger later led to a lost point in the decisive tiebreak and resulted in a defeat in one of the longest games in the tournament’s history.
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Moutet is expelled from the French association
The tennis professional has already attracted negative attention several times in 2022 – as was the case in Adelaide at the beginning of the year when he argued with the referee during a match. He loudly expressed his displeasure with some decisions, his verbal derailment towards the referee and his unsportsmanlike behavior ultimately led to him being disqualified from the tournament.
This was preceded by slightly missed points by the then 22-year-old. Moutet seemed visibly dissatisfied with his performance and – in contrast to his role model Nadal – he lacked any trace of mental stability and strength.
A little later that same year, Moutet clashed with his opponent Adrian Andreev at a Challenger tournament in Orléans. When shaking hands after the game, the French scandal player pushed hard against the Russian’s upper body.
Andreev then attacked his opponent. A scuffle broke out with the use of bats and only the referee was able to separate the two brawlers.
Tennis scandal: Corentin Moutet and Adrian Andreev attack each other
The scuffles had far-reaching consequences. Both players had to pay a fine of 10,000 euros and Moutet was even expelled from the French Tennis Federation.
The Fédération Française de Tennis justified the suspension by saying that Moutet had violated values that the umbrella organization did not want to stand for under any circumstances.
About a year after the incident, the French athlete declared himself a lone fighter. He made it clear that tennis is not a team sport and that he doesn’t expect anything from an association.
“I made mistakes”
He showed further aggressive behavior at the Ultimate Tennis Challenge in Nice in 2020. In a match against Stefanos Tsitsipas, Moutet played against the Greek’s father, who is also his coach. He had shouted motivating words to his son during the game, infuriating the Frenchman.
Moutet shouted at Papa Tsitsipas and continued to tease a TV station during the break. “Stefanos is a great guy. But his father is stupid. Everyone thinks he’s stupid. He pisses me off. He talks all the time when I’m serving. He pisses me off. He has no respect. “He only thinks about himself,” said the Frenchman.
Even during prestigious tournaments such as the Australian Open and US Open, Moutet was always able to cause controversy. The Frenchman did not attract attention with his aggressive behavior, but still with his extremely strange behavior.
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Be it a selfie with a fan before a crucial set, push-ups after a botched stop or regularly destroying rackets, Moutet has shown that he often cares less about the conventions of the sport than about his own needs and whims.
The Frenchman admitted that his behavior was always wrong: “I have made mistakes, but I learn from them and face them. If I make mistakes, I admit it and don’t lie to myself or those around me. These mistakes made me who I am today.”
Moutet was once allowed to compete against his role model Nadal, with the Frenchman losing 0-3 sets at the 2022 French Open. However, a “little dream” came true for him. It remains to be seen whether things will go much better for him against Djokovic.
2024-05-10 13:00:25
#madness #bounds
