French tennis star Corentin Moutet sparked a heated argument with an umpire on Wednesday after not being offered a coffee during his four-hour epic with Shang Juncheng at the Madrid Open.
Moutet, who was beaten 7-6 2-6 6-7 by the Chinese athlete after a gruelling three hours and 59 minutes in the Spanish capital, raged after the female umpire insisted she ‘could not bring’ coffee to the court for him to drink.
He initially confronted the umpire during the break after noticing there was no coffee available for him and took part in an explosive exchange with the official.
‘It doesn’t matter where we play, we don’t provide coffee. I cannot bring it to you,’ the umpire said.
Furious, Moutet went off on a lengthy rant about all the other refreshments on offer at the Madrid Open and finished by sarcastically saying: ‘Am I asking for caviar?’
French tennis star Corentin Moutet fumed at an umpire for not being offered coffee at the Madrid Open – before later being given one by a fan during his four-hour defeat on Wednesday
Moutet (left) suffered defeat against Shang Juncheng (right) following the four-hour match
The Frenchman was eventually offered a coffee, but not by the officials. A spectator handed Moutet a cup over the railings, generating an amused applause from members of the Madrid crowd.
Moments later, the umpire could be heard calling for security to remove the fan.
At 5-5 in the decisive tiebreak, Moutet incredibly lost control of his racket after serving and ended up losing the point, left with nothing but his feet to swipe at Shang’s return.
Moutet, who has fast become on of the most controversial players on the men’s circuit, previously demanded for a 1litre bottle of Pepsi during an Argentina Open qualifier in February.
On this occasion, the 25-year-old star was granted his request and later refused to be treated by the tournament physiotherapist after the match.
In January 2022, Moutet was disqualified from the Adelaide International for insulting and swearing at a chair umpire.
The Frenchman once called Stefanos Tsitsipas’ father ‘stupid’ for talking while he was serving
And two years prior at an exhibition organised by French tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou, the athlete lost his temper and kicked a racket into the stands before punching the wall at the back of the court.
During the same competition, Moutet labelled Stefanos Tsitsipas’ father Apostolos ‘stupid’ for talking while he was trying to serve.
‘You’re not allowed to talk. I don’t have any problem with Stefanos, who is a good guy, but his father is stupid and everyone knows it ,’ Moutet said, back in 2020.
