Alexander Bublik and Corentin Moutet made headlines this week following their latest contest at the Paris Masters.
The pair, who have a history of heated exchanges, met in the Paris Masters round of 32 earlier this week. Ahead of the match, Moutet had said he wanted to ‘send Bublik home.’
Bublik, who won the match 6-3, 7-6, signed a camera lens with the message: “on the way home.”
The Kazakhstani player explained his message: “Well obviously he spoke too much before the match, he spoke too much. I just had to punish him. I had no other option.
“He said he will do everything to send me home, so it’s nice that he lives in Paris, and it’s not too far in the taxi.”
Legendary tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who coached 23-time major champion Serena Williams for a decade, has weighed in on Bublik and Moutet’s ‘trash talk.’
Patrick Mouratoglou thinks the trash talk is ‘fun’
Patrick Mouratoglou is possibly the most well-recognised coaching figure in tennis.
The Frenchman, aged 55, coached Serena Williams between 2012 and 2022. During that period, Serena won 10 Grand Slam titles.
Mouratoglou has also worked with Simona Halep and Holger Rune. Most recently, he worked with Naomi Osaka.
The 55-year-old has weighed in on Bublik and Moutet’s back-and-forth, comparing their situation to that of Andre Agassi and Vincent Spadea.
“Those two guys like to trash talk… but I think it’s fun,” Mouratoglou said on Instagram.
“In this tennis world that is so conservative, so classic. I mean, to bring that excitement is amazing. And the great thing is, they played a great match.
“Not surprising that it’s those two guys. First of all, they don’t like each other, they had a big fight during a match before.
“Actually, Bublik told Moutet ‘lets get out of the court, lets go outside and lets fight, physically.’ It really went quite far.”
This particular instance Mouratoglou refers to occurred at the Phoenix Challenger in March. Bublik defeated Moutet at the event, before a heated exchange ensued at the net.
Mouratoglou continued: “I remember Agassi trash talked [Vincent] Spadea – said he was a poor player and stuff like that because they really didn’t like each other and Agassi lost, he couldn’t play the match, he had too much pressure.
“So to find tennis players who can trash talk and play great and deliver on the court, that’s amazing.”
What did Moutet say in response to Bublik?
After the match, one reporter asked Moutet: “Did you feel the tension with him in the beginning?”
Moutet replied: “No. Today I tried to focus on myself. I don’t think it was personal. He likes to make fun of players. I don’t know what you expect from me.
“Some people talk; some people don’t. I guess he’s part of the first category. He loves to verbally clash with people.
“I don’t like that kind of thing. When things go beyond words, I know how people behave, and I know what kind of character he is apart from the character that is shown in the media.
“So it’s no use talking behind the mic. He’s good enough to do that by himself. I’ll let him do it.”
There is a silver lining for the Frenchman, despite his loss to Bublik in Paris.
His run in the French capital has seen him jump one place to world number 31, meaning he should secure a seeded place at the 2026 Australian Open.
As for Bublik, he has risen three places to world number 13, despite losing to Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Paris Masters semi-finals.
Also, the Kazakhstani player, who became the first from his nation to reach the Masters 1000 final, has moved up to 11th in the ATP Finals race.
Therefore, he has given himself a great shot at being an alternate for the year-end tournament.
Both Bublik and Moutet are scheduled to compete at the Metz Open this week.
