Tennis bad boy Corentin Moutet was initially told he couldn’t quit when he tried to leave his US Open match in a bizarre ending to his first round match.
Moutet struggled against Australian Dane Sweeny and ended his struggles by withdrawing due to injury while down two sets and 3–0 in the third set.
He had demolished his racket in an angry outburst the previous set, earning himself a racket abuse penalty, and ultimately decided enough was enough as he cited injury as his reason for quitting the match.
But in a bizarre finish, the referee initially told him he could not stop because he had not yet been seen by a physio.
Moutet caused confusion when he approached Sweeny to shake his hand, before shaking the referee’s hand.
The referee appeared confused and called in a physio to examine the Frenchman, who then insisted he did not need a trainer and wanted to end the match.
Corentin Moutet’s US Open match ended bizarrely when he withdrew from his match
Moutet was told to see a physio, while a supervisor was called to court
Moutet had smashed his racket in a trademark outburst earlier in the match
After a supervisor arrived on the field and suggested that a review would be necessary to officially declare the match over, Moutet’s retirement was ultimately accepted.
Moutet later explained: ‘It’s my wrist, it’s bothering me, it won’t go away despite all the effort I put into it. I don’t really know what to say about it, it’s been hurting for a long time. Since Vienna last year.
‘The problem is that I tried to play, to push every time. And that caused pain elsewhere. In Cincinnati I decided to take a break to try to put the racket down and prepare for here.
‘I worked very hard physically, without playing tennis. It took a long time, it was difficult and it is frustrating not to be ready to play the last Grand Slam of the year.”
Moutet has developed a bad reputation after a number of emotional outbursts on the court and a strong BBC interview in which he was fined around $40,000 before Wimbledon.
‘I never understood why being angry when you lose makes you the bad guy. For me, it’s the strange guys who laugh after they lose,” he said recently on The Tennis Insider Club.
‘From the age of seven to sixteen I hardly lost a match, at most ten a year. So I never learned how to lose. For a long time that was very difficult for me, because when things started to go bad, I didn’t know what was going on.
“The reality is that at some point you’re going to lose. Then you lose again, and again, and again. No one ever told me that.’
Moutet later discussed the injury that caused him to withdraw from the match while down two sets
Australian wildcard Dane Sweeny has made progress after his match against the fiery Frenchman
Wildcard Sweeny has joined qualifier and childhood friend Tristan Schoolkate in the second round.
“Yes, it’s really nice,” Sweeny told AAP. ‘I always support the Aussie boys and it’s nice to see a few get over the line, especially Tristan. We’ve known each other for so long.’
He left the match against Moutet with scars of his own, developing a lump on his elbow after the match.
“The lump is usually standard, but I didn’t put ice on it,” he said. “When I dive, I land in the same spot every time, so it just keeps popping up,” Sweeny said.
‘I have a permanent fluid build-up there. Sometimes I can’t help it. Before I know it, I’m already in the air.’
