La Quotidienne de Bruxelles - Moutet fined over x-rated Queen's Club rant

The controversial Frenchman said the 'F-word' seven times during a live BBC television interview on court after his first round victory over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard earlier this week.

Having initially sworn unintentionally while answering the first question, a grinning Moutet repeatly swore again before interviewer Jenny Drummond pulled the plug.

The ATP announced on Friday that the 27-year-old, who earned £33,000 for reaching the second round of the grass-court tournament, would be a hit with a fine that was virtually equal to his entire prize money.

The fine was imposed for "unsportsmanlike conduct" by using "profane language during his post-match interview", the ATP said.

Moutet, who was beaten in straight sets by Spanish fourth seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the last 16, has confirmed he will appeal against the fine.

The world number 36 already had a reputation as one of the more volatile players in the men's game after a host of incidents in his colourful career.

At the Adelaide International in 2022, Moutet was disqualified for swearing at the chair umpire immediately after he lost the second set of his second-round match.

He was fined by the ATP later that year following a scuffle on the court with Adrian Andreev.

In November 2022, Moutet was expelled from the French Federation of Tennis (FFT), losing financial aid and his coach, after repeated bad behaviour.

Elsewhere at Queen's on Friday, American Brandon Nakashima shocked Australian top seed Alex De Minaur in the quarter-finals.

The 24-year-old, ranked 32, pulled off one of the biggest wins of his career with a 7-5, 6-3 victory.

"Very happy with my performance, it definitely wasn't easy," he said. "I was under a lot of pressure but I'm happy with myself getting through the critical points and closing it out at the end.

"It's never easy serving out a match, especially against a top player like Alex, so I was happy to win the last point."

Q.Martens--LCdB