“He loves to mock his opponents”: Corentin Moutet calls out Bublik’s antics after Paris Masters loss

Corentin Moutet avoided stretching the conflict with Alexander Bublik's comments following his defeat at the Paris Masters. The bad blood between the two players is well-known; they were close to getting into a physical fight during a past encounter at the Phoenix Challenger in March.

This time, prior to the match, Moutet had already anticipated his desire to teach the Kazakh a lesson on the court. "We know he’s very provocative with many players, he likes to mock his opponents. I’m going to stay focused on my game, with the help of the crowd,” warned the World No. 32 after overcoming his debut against Reilly Opelka.

The match saw a focused Bublik on serve, winning 79% of his first serve points, compared to 66% for Moutet. The Kazakh saved the only break point he faced and converted 2/10 break points in his favor. Moutet's 29 winners were not enough to counter a consistent Bublik.

After the match, Bublik was quickly asked about Moutet's previous statements and how he approached the duel, to which the 28-year-old player mocked his rival: “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?”

Following the second-round defeat and Bublik's mockery, Moutet stepped up to the press conference. The Frenchman began by clarifying to his rival that his current residence is not in Paris, but rather in Dubai for some time. The Frenchman, however, avoided centering on the conflict with the Kazakh. “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,” the Frenchman added. “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 ends his participation in the tournament, currently achieving his first appearance inside the top-30 in the live ranking. He will have to wait for the results of the rest of the week to see if he achieves this milestone. On the other hand, Alexander Bublik will have a tough match against the 4th seed Taylor Fritz in search of a spot in the quarter-finals.

Back in March of this year, Bublik and Moutet had to be separated to prevent them from coming to blows, following an encounter in the quarter-finals of the Phoenix Challenger 175. Bublik took the victory 2-6, 7-5, 7-5. When the Kazakh was serving in the final moments, things got spicy when Moutet told his opponent: “I’m not ready to,” while Bublik responded “I don’t give a sh*t.”

At the end of the match, they had an exchange at the net that quickly escalated, and they were close to fighting. “Ten minutes outside? Let’s go. We have a fight?” The supervisor eventually tried to lead Bublik away, while the umpire dealt with Moutet. “The French kid is speaking and he doesn’t want to fight. Let’s go, we meet in 10 minutes outside,” added Bublik.