French tennis player Corentin Moutet is walking away from the Queen’s Club tournament with almost nothing in his pocket after a fine nearly erased his entire earnings from the event.
The ATP handed Moutet a $40,000 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct after he dropped expletives seven times during a live on-court interview with the BBC. The interview took place following his first-round victory over fellow French player Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
The 27-year-old had earned $43,000 for advancing to the second round — meaning the fine consumed virtually all of his winnings. Moutet went on to lose his next match to Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
During the interview, Moutet used a swear word to describe the moment he was aced on match point by a 142-mile-per-hour second serve. The interviewer asked him not to repeat the word, but Moutet said it three more times before the broadcast was cut short. Apologies were then made to the crowd and television viewers.
Following the incident, Moutet took to Instagram, writing that he was “just joking.” He has since filed an appeal of the fine.
This is not the first time the world number 36 has faced discipline on the tennis circuit. Back in 2022, he was disqualified from the Adelaide International for directing profanity at an umpire during a match against Serbia’s Laslo Djere. That same year, the French Tennis Federation cut ties with him over concerns about his conduct.
