Two of tennis’s most intense players faced off Tuesday and the ending wasn’t pretty.
Italian 38-year-old Fabio Fognini took on 26-year-old Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the Stuttgart Open, where Moutet bested Fognini in three sets 6-4, 6-7, 6-3.
When the two met at the net to shake hands after the match, things got feisty.
Fognini spoke to Moutet in French, saying, “Look at me, look at me!” while the two shook hands.
Moutet mostly ignored Fognini’s hostility before it escalated even further.
“Look at me, little pig!” the Italian said. “You’re a piece of s–t!”
Moutet continued to keep his poise as he shook hands with the line umpire before walking back onto the court and soaking up some more of the applause from the fans in Stuttgart, Germany.
Moutet had a similar tense situation earlier this year when he and Alexander Bublik were forced to be separated by an umpire.
But similarly to this time around, Moutet didn’t seem to be the one who started the last argument either, as he had told Bublik he wasn’t ready for his serve, to which the Kazakh responded, “I don’t give a s–t!”
Bublik then tried picking a fight at the end of the match, telling Moutet “Let’s go! We meet in 10 minutes outside.”
While Moutet fired back a bit at Bublik, he ultimately laughed off the offers for a physical altercation.
Moutet kept his cool relatively well in these situations.
However, he is the common denominator in the two incidents that occurred less than three months apart, so perhaps he has a way of getting under his opponents’ skin that the public doesn’t know about.
With the win over Fognini on Tuesday, Moutet advanced to take on the tournament favorite, Alexander Zverev. They will face off on Thursday.
As for Fognini, it’s no wonder he was pretty frustrated after the loss as it eliminated him from the event that he was invited to as a wild card.
Fognini is a former No. 9 player in the world rankings.
