Alexander Bublik and Corentin Moutet were separated by umpire after planning a ‘fight’ | Tennis | Sport

The drama started earlier in the match when Bublik was preparing to serve and Moutet said he wasn’t ready. But the current world No. 16 started the point as normal and replied: “I don’t give a s***.”

Bublik sealed a 2-6 7-6(4) 7-5 victory in the quarter-finals and went on to finish runner-up in Phoenix. And the Kazakh star approached Moutet while his opponent was packing up to leave the court.

“Ten minutes outside? Let’s go. We have a fight?” he asked. The supervisor took to the court and tried to lead Bublik away while the umpire dealt with Moutet, but the Kazakh persisted.

“The French kid is speaking and he doesn’t want to fight. Let’s go, we meet in 10 minutes outside,” he added.

When they met in Phoenix, Bublik was ranked at No. 82 in the world, and Moutet was at No. 79. They’ve both since enjoyed successful seasons and currently sit at career-high rankings, with Bublik at No. 16 and Moutet at No. 32.

Bublik has won four titles this year on all three surfaces and beat Jannik Sinner on his way to the Halle Open crown. Moutet recently reached the Almaty final, finishing runner-up to Daniil Medvedev. He also made it to the quarter-finals in Vienna last week, getting revenge over Medvedev.

Ahead of their rematch in Paris, Moutet was full of praise for Bublik, despite their altercation in Arizona.

“He’s a very good player. He had wonderful results this year, especially on indoor hard courts. Tennistically, it’s going to be hard, but I’m going to focus on my game. We’ll see. I’m going to prepare just like any other match,” the Frenchman said.

Reflecting on his recent rise up the rankings, Moutet added: “I feel that this ranking is more aligned with my game. I knew I could do it, but now, to be part of the top 30 players, you have to fight to play a lot of matches, you have to have a lot of matches under your belt to beat the best, and it wasn’t the case for me over the last years for many different reasons.

“I knew that I could do it, but then I had to move up and there was room for improvement. I managed to adjust my game, and I’m proud to have achieved that with my team. Then it’s a means to an end. I want to aim higher.”