Corentin Moutet insisted there is no tension between him and Alexander Bublik after being mocked by the French Open quarter-finalist at the Paris Masters. Bublik defeated Moutet 6-3, 7-5 before scrawling a message on the camera lens, which appeared to be aimed at his opponent.
Ahead of the showdown in the French capital, Moutet had admitted that he wanted to “send Bublik home”. But it was the Frenchman who ultimately ended up exiting the tournament. And after sealing victory, Bublik wrote on the camera lens: “On the way home”.
After the encounter, Bublik explained: “Obviously he spoke too much before the match, you know, he spoke too much, and I just have to punish him, so I had no other option.”
And discussing the written message, the Russian-born Kazakhstani tennis star said: “Well, he said that he will do everything to send me home, so it’s nice that he lives in Paris and it’s not too far with a taxi, you know?”
Moutet had the opportunity to respond to Bublik in his post-match press conference and corrected the world No. 16 as he confirmed that he now lives in Dubai.
And the 26-year-old, who lost his shoe at one point during the match, then dismissed talk of tension between the duo as he explained: “Today I tried to focus on myself. I don’t think it was personal.
“He likes to make fun of players. I don’t know what you expect from me. Some people talk, some people don’t. I guess he’s part of the first category. He loves to verbally clash with people.
“I don’t like that kind of thing. When things go beyond words, I know how people behave and I know what kind of character he is apart from the character that is shown in the media. So it’s no use talking behind the mic. He’s good enough to do that by himself. I’ll let him do it.”
Moutet and Bublik have already clashed on the court this year when they met at the Phoenix Challenger in March.
The rivals shared a tense handshake at the net after Bublik had come from a set down to win their quarter-final showdown.
And Bublik then approached the defeated player at the side of the court as the victor exclaimed: “Ten minutes outside? Let’s go. We have a fight?” The supervisor eventually tried to lead Bublik away, while the umpire dealt with Moutet.
But Bublik continued: “The French kid is speaking and he doesn’t want to fight. Let’s go, we meet in 10 minutes outside.”