Paris Masters star receives warning after breaking racket in half and handing it to fan
Corentin Moutet was caught breaking the rules after breaking his racket in half and handing the broken stick to a fan in the crowd.
The Frenchman qualified for the Paris Masters but faced a tough opponent in the first round, Ben Shelton. After an early break, he let his frustration get the best of him, breaking equipment and after yelling in the box.
Moute is no stranger to controversy. The world number 70 was ejected from a match in Adelaide two years ago and has also called for fans to leave at the Madrid Open, and he’s back there again during one of his home tournaments, the Paris Masters.
Fans filled the stands on Court 1 to root for their player against Shelton, ranked 19th in the world. Their support didn’t go far. Moutet grew frustrated during a difficult service game at 2-3 and was eventually broken.
As Shelton waited to serve for the next game, he began attacking his team and asking about tactics. The tension reached a breaking point when he sent the ball into the back of the net and broke his racket in reaction.
“And there is the broken racket,” Colin Fleming said on commentary as the 25-year-old retreated to his bench to get a new one. “This has to be a warning now, surely. He’s not exactly tapped that on the ground, has he?”
As soon as the signal was given, slow-motion replays showed Moutet whipping his knee hard with his racket, and chair umpire Aurélie Tourte called a foul for rough use of the racket.
“That must hurt, no? I can’t even try to do that,” co-commentator and retired pro Gilles Muller added.
The emotional outburst did not allow Moutet to relax, as Shelton held on and the Frenchman covered his head with a towel at the next change of ends.
After Shelton won the first set, there was more drama in the second when, with the American serving at 2-2, the chair umpire overturned a shot from Moutet because the ball had bounced twice before reaching him.
It took Tourte some seconds to make a decision before Shelton waved his hand in protest to confirm that it was indeed his point, and Tourte ran to his chair and chatted with the judge in French but stood her ground. When she announced the score in Shelton’s favor, there were screams of anger.
With so much at stake for both players, the sense of a draw was growing. The winner of the match between Moutet and Shelton was scheduled to face world number one Jannik Sinner in the second round.
But the two-time major champion was forced to withdraw from the tournament on Tuesday morning after contracting the virus. He was replaced by a lucky loser, Arthur Cazeau.
