Corentin Moutet’s Queen’s Club run cost him a fortune after a rather unruly interview, where he dropped seven F-bombs. While his first expletive was unprovoked, the next six appeared to be uttered out of spite after interviewer Jenny Drummond asked him to mind his language.
American stars Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys opined that the interview would likely have unfolded more smoothly had Drummond refrained from making the request.
Jessica Pegula Reacts to Corentin Moutet’s Strange Interview
Moutet was slapped with a $40,000 fine for his expletive-laden interview at the Queen’s Club. The Frenchman was being interviewed by BBC presenter Drummond after he beat his compatriot Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round.
He dropped the first F-bomb while describing his state of mind during the closing moments of the tense match. When Drummond responded with a “No F-bombs, please” admonition, he promptly let fly with three more.
He then unleashed three more F-bombs when the interviewer issued an apology to the crowd. “Corentin, I’m going to ask you one more question. Apologies, everyone, for the language there. I’m going to ask you one more question, so please keep it clean, okay?”
In the latest episode of the Player’s Box podcast, Jessica Pegula argued that the interviewer exacerbated the situation by making the request. “I definitely think that she antagonized it. Not like she did, but just knowing his personality, you tell him not to say it, not to do it, he’s going to do it.”
While Moutet was largely criticized by the tennis community for his foul language, Pegula felt that the incident was funny. “And at first, I thought she was joking. But, yeah, it was funny, though. The crowd laughed.”
Keys expressed a similar sentiment, highlighting Moutet’s peculiar personality. “I feel she should’ve known that. The way that she worded her question and was like, ‘Make sure that you don’t swear anymore,’ I was like, ‘He’s obviously going to swear now.’”
This is not the first time that Moutet has landed in trouble for his disorderly conduct. He received a code violation warning for unsportsmanlike conduct at the Hamburg Open in May when he pulled down his shorts on the court during a tense loss to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
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Moutet earned around $43,330 in pre-tax prize money by reaching the Round of 16 at the Queen’s Club Championships, where he was again beaten by Davidovich Fokina. Given the steep nature of the penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, the Frenchman has confirmed that he is appealing the decision in accordance with the ATP rules.
