Novak Djokovic will take on Corentin Moutet in the second round of the French Open on Thursday. However, he could be in for a fiery encounter if Moutet’s recent game against Alexander Bublik is anything to go by. The Serbian icon took his first step forward in Paris with a comfortable straight-sets victory against Mackenzie McDonald of the USA on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Moutet defeated world No 280 Clement Tabur 6-3, 7-6(6), 6-3 in the opning round eat Roland Garros. The home favourite is no stranger to controversy, having been disqualified in the past and clashed with Kazakhstani star Bublik at the Arizona Tennis Classic in March. Such was their coming-together that the pair almost ended up taking their beef to the nearest car park.
Bublik won the match, 2-6 7-6 (4) 7-5. However, tension between the pair began to bubble in the closing stages, with Bublik serving for the tie.
The 27-year-old began preparing to serve before Moutet had got into position on the other side of the net. The French star then attempted to slow him down and could be heard saying: “I’m not ready,” to which Bublik replied: “I don’t give a s***.”
Bublik’s response was met with hearty laughter from the crowd before he went on to seal the victory. A tense handshake at the net with his rival followed, until things swiftly escalated.
Footage on social media showed Bublik gesturing animatedly with the pair going face-to-face. Chair umpire Marta Mrozinska then attempted to step in to try and calm the situation, however, Bublik continued the scrape, boldly asking Moutet: “You want to fight?”
World number 83 Moutet was then escorted away by the officials. Yet that didn’t stop Bublik from firing off one final threat. “The French kid is speaking, and he doesn’t want to fight,” he said. “Let’s go! We meet in 10 minutes outside.”
Bublik then ultimately walked away from the spat. However, this isn’t the first bout of controversy for Djokovic’s upcoming opponent. Moutet was disqualified from the Adelaide International in 2022 for swearing at the chair umpire after losing the second set of his second-round match against Laslo Djere.
In October of the same year, Moutet and his opponent, Adrian Andreev, were separated by the umpire after they shoved each other in a scuffle following their match at the Orleans Challenger.
The Federation of French Tennis (FFT) even expelled Moutet the following month, cutting all his funding and denying him access to their coaches, due to his behaviour.
Djokovic and Moutet have met just twice before, with the 37-year-old winning both matches. Aiming to win his 25th Grand Slam, the tennis legend has revealed he is now feeling good after a tough start to 2025.
He has also arrived at Roland Garros fresh off winning the 100th tour-level title of his career at the Geneva Open. “Coming into Roland Garros, it feels different than I had compared to the feeling I had three weeks ago,” he said. “Let’s see how far I can go here, but I have a good feeling for now.”
