French tennis player Corentin Moutet said he did not intend to do be disrespectful after he was booed by the Australian Open crowd for playing an underarm serve to win match point.
Moutet, the 32nd seed, defeated the Australian Tristan Schoolkate 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-3 in his opening round match on Sunday and said he was “not thinking” about his unorthodox choice of shot on match point.
The 26-year-old left-hander spun a tricky sliced underarm serve out wide, which seemingly caught Schoolkate off-guard as he replied with a hacked forehand long.
The gasps from the crowd as Moutet played his underarm serve were then replaced by jeers as he dropped his racket and celebrated towards his team before shaking hands with Schoolkate at the net.
“I did it because I thought it would be I could win the point, which I won the point actually. Nothing else,” Moutet, whose style of play is one of the more flamboyant on the ATP Tour, said afterwards.
“Of course, no disrespect or anything. You know, just, like, I could serve on the tee. I could [do] whatever. I decided to do this, so I thought it was the better option at this moment.”
Moutet also described his style of play. “I’m just myself. I’m trying to perform well, to be the best version of myself, to be a great tennis player,” the Frenchman said.
“If I can entertain the people, that’s even better, but that’s not my first priority.
“My first priority is to perform and be a great tennis player. I don’t know what people expect from us, but I think there is very good players right now, you know, in this era.”
Moutet is a possible opponent for World No 1 Carlos Alcaraz should they both reach the third round. The Frenchman will play either Sebastian Korda or qualifier Michael Zheng in his next match.
