- Corentin Moutet lost his racket during serve in the tie-break of the decisive set
- Without a racket, the Frenchman tried his luck trying to kick the ball
- Moutet earlier raged at the referee for not being able to get him a coffee.
French tennis star Corentin Moutet was at the center of the action during a three-set loss to Shang Juncheng at the Madrid Open.
Moutet, who was defeated by the Chinese athlete 7-6, 2-6, 6-7 after a grueling three hours and 59 minutes in the Spanish capital, became enraged after the referee insisted he “couldn’t bring” coffee to the court for him to take it. to drink.
With the match at 5-5 in a decisive tie-break, another notable event occurred during the chaotic match.
Moutet accidentally threw his racquet on serve before Shang returned the throw.
The 25-year-old, world number 79, tried to kick the ball over the net, but missed and spread his arms in exasperation.
Corentin Moutet accidentally dropped his racket while serving in the decisive tie-break
Without his racket he tried to kick the ball over the net but missed.
Moutet was upset by the costly error in the decisive tie-break.
Moutet (left) suffered a loss to Shang Juncheng (right) after the four-hour match.
Shang took a 6-5 lead and would win the deciding set tie-break 12-10 to advance to the next round of the tournament.
His attempted kick came moments after he argued with fans on the field and spoke to the referee to express his annoyance at some of those in attendance.
At the beginning of the match, he He confronted the referee during half-time after noticing there was no coffee available for him and engaged in an explosive exchange with the referee.
‘No matter where we play, we don’t offer coffee. “I can’t give it to you,” the referee said.
Furious, Moutet gave a long speech about the rest of the soft drinks on offer at the Madrid Open and ended by saying sarcastically: “Am I ordering caviar?”
In the end they offered the Frenchman a coffee, but not the officials. A spectator handed Moutet a cup over the railing, generating amusing applause from the Madrid public.
Moments later, the referee could be heard asking security to remove the fan.
Moutet, who has quickly become one of the most controversial players on the men’s circuit, previously demanded a 1-litre bottle of Pepsi during an Argentina Open qualifying match in February.
Moutet angered a referee for not offering him coffee at the Madrid Open, before a fan gave him one during his four-hour loss on Wednesday.
On this occasion, the 25-year-old star agreed to his request and subsequently refused to be treated by the tournament’s physiotherapist after the match.
In January 2022, Moutet was disqualified from the Adelaide International for insulting and insulting a chair umpire.