Even a blunt knife would have cut the tension between Corentin Moutet and Fabio Fognini following their fiery Stuttgart Open clash on Tuesday. The match featured a broken racket and a few choice words at the net, with two of the circuit’s most volatile characters going head-to-head.
There was also plenty of tennis for spectators to get stuck into. After more than two hours, Moutet came away with a 6-4 6-7 6-3 victory over a player 12 years his senior, and set up a meeting with top seed Alexander Zverev in the round of 16.
Partway through Tuesday’s showdown, which took place on Stuttgart’s grass courts, Fognini snapped his racket with one swift strike through the knee before tossing it away in disgust. Emotions were always likely to soar in a meeting between two highly-strung players, and the drama continued right until the end.
The match was sealed with a missed Fognini backhand as Moutet turned away, pointed to his head, fist-pumped and then launched a ball into the stands.
The two players shook hands at the net, but the handshake lasted longer than usual, and Fognini did not break eye contact with his opponent. During the tense few moments, the Italian was heard saying ‘look at me’ to Moutet in French.
Rather than escalating the frosty exchange, Moutet opted to head straight for a handshake with the chair umpire before forcing his way past Fognini, who was blocking the path back to his chair. Moutet then took in the applause one more time before the players walked off court.
Tuesday’s incident was not the first time Moutet has been caught up in drama this season. Back in March, things went even further during a match with Alexander Bublik at the Arizona Tennis Classic in Phoenix, USA.
Tensions boiled over when Moutet indicated he was not ready for Bublik’s serve, and the Kazakhstani star responded: “I don’t care!” Bublik then said to Moutet: “Do you want to fight? Let’s go, we’ll meet outside in ten minutes. This little Frenchman talks but he doesn’t want to fight!”
Since then, Moutet has put together a string of respectable results. He reached the round of 16 at the Italian Open, where he lost to Jack Draper, and then the second round of the French Open, where he was beaten by 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.