The Arizona Tennis Classic saw a frosty encounter between Alexander Bublik and Corentin Moutet with the former offering to meet his opponent in the car park after a tense exchange
Two tennis stars were forced to be separated by an umpire after one suggested meeting to fight in the car park. Corentin Moutet and Alexander Bublik engaged in a fiery conflict at the Arizona Tennis Classic.
The pair faced off in the Challenger Event and saw tensions rise after some terse exchanges. When Bublik, formerly ranked no.17 in the world, attempted to serve quickly hours into the game, Moutet was heard saying, ‘I’m not ready,’ attempting to slow his opponent as he prepared his shot.
“I don’t give a s***,” came the reply from Bublik. The interaction certainly appeared to add some fuel to the fire of their battle as the Russian-born Kazakhstani tennis star ultimately prevailed 2-6, 7-6, 7-5.
But the warring did not end at the match’s culmination. A post-match handshake was quickly followed by more arguing and the umpire was forced to stand between the players.
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Footage following their match has shown Polish chair umpire Marta Mrozinska attempting to encourage the players to go their separate ways. Bublik is seen intensely gesturing away from the court, as Moutet goes back at him, and smirks as he turns towards his bag.
“You want to fight?” Bublik can be heard saying. “The French kid is speaking and he doesn’t want to fight.
“Let’s go. We meet in 10 minutes outside.”
The encounter did not prevent Bublik from progressing further in the tournament however. The 27-year-old went on to beat the tournament’s top seed, Portuguese ace Nuno Borges in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.
The player. who has previously reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, was unable to prevail in the tournament’s final however. Bublik narrowly fell to upcoming Brazilian star Joao Fonseca, 7-6 7-6.
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In earning victory, the 18-year-old became the second-youngest player from South America, behind US Open winner Juan Martin del Potro, to win three ATP Challenger Tour titles. Fonseca has entered the world’s top 60 and fell to British star Jack Draper at Indian Wells last week.
Friday’s match was not the first time that Bublik had been involved ina testy encounter. At the China Open, he lost his cool against Flavio Cobolli and destroyed his equipment.
It is also not the first time Moutet has engaged in a verbal confrontation. Footage has previously shown the Frenchman clash with Adrian Andreev and require an umpire to solve the conflict.
Bublik has continued to find wins this season however and most recently defeated Sebastian Baez. in the Miami Open. The star, who started the year poorly reflected on the impact ranking can have on his colleagues, having dropped down to 80th earlier this year himself.
“I always wondered how someone could feel better than someone else because they can hit a better forehand?” he told Tennis Channel. “That’s complete nonsense, in my opinion. I don’t care if you can serve better than me if you’re a bad human being, if you’re annoying or boring, or even if you’re nice. For me, human is a human, a friend is a friend. Everyone here, to me, is the same whether they’re winning or losing.
“The change of behavior with some players always makes me laugh when you see them shaking your hands, laughing, and they go up 30 spots and they’re like… Then imagine, for me, Roger [Federer] needs to fly, like Jesus on the water.”
