According to many, up to now, it was the craziest tennis match of 2024. Main character? The French Corentin Moutet25 years old, best ranking 51st place achieved in 2022. A Madrid (where Sinner will enter the game on Saturday challenging his friend Sonego) lost an epic battle against the Chinese Shang Juncheng (7-6 2-6 6-7) with the decisive tie break ending 12-10 for the Asian player. An infinite match, the second longest ever in the tournament after the famous 2009 semi-final between Djokovic and Nadal (4 hours and 3 minutes). Simply everything happened: Moutet, for example, he asked the referee for a coffee on several occasions, complete with an explosive back and forth between the two: “We don’t supply it, I can’t bring it to you!”, the latter’s reply, to which the tennis player responded with sarcasm: “Am I asking about caviar?TO”. In the end he was satisfied thanks to a fan, who handed him a glass directly from the stands.
But that’s not all: after closing the first set with a great point, Moutet made the “los huevos” gesture» (made famous by Cholo Simeone in a Champions League match against Juventus) to underline his warrior character in a less than elegant way. In the second set his opponent, Shang, incredibly “saves” his opponent’s passer at the net, who then sends out the next backhand. In the third set here is a new show from Moutet, who complains about being disturbed by the water coming from the irrigation of the adjacent field.
But, ultimately, Moutet is considered one of the most colorful and controversial tennis players on the circuit. In February, during a qualifying match for the Argentine open, he had demanded a one-litre bottle of Pepsi. In January, in Adelaide, he had been disqualified for insulting the chair umpirewhile two years earlier — during an exhibition organized by the French coach Patrick Mouratoglou — lost his temper and kicked a racket into the stands. All this after calling Stefanos Tsitsipas’ father, Apostolos, “stupid” for speaking while he was trying to serve. “You are not allowed to do that. I have no problem with Stefanos, he’s a nice guy, but his father is stupid and everyone knows it.”. A non-trivial guy, Moutet.
