F*** f*** f***: Tennis star Moutet fined £4k per F-bomb for Queen

French tennis player Corentin Moutet has been fined 90 per cent of his prize money – or £4,322 per swear word – for saying “f***” seven times in a post-match interview at Queen’s Club.

Moutet turned the air blue during the BBC’s live coverage of the HSBC Championships when interviewed on court by Jenny Drummond after his first-round win over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old first swore when describing his emotions in the decisive points, drawing laughter from the crowd and a warning, “no F-bombs, please”, from Drummond.

Smirking, Moutet then replied “f*** f*** f***”. After Drummond apologised to viewers for the language and asked him to “keep it clean” in his final answer, he again said “f*** f*** f***”.

The men’s ATP Tour said on Friday it had fined $40,000, which equates to £30,251, almost completely wiping out the £33,000 he had earned for reaching the second round at Queen’s.

The ATP said the fine was imposed for “unsportsmanlike conduct”, namely “the use of profane language during his post-match interview”. Moutet has said that he will appeal the fine. 

It is by no means the first controversy provoked by Moutet, who has a tattoo on the back of his neck that states “chaos makes the muse”.

Last month he received a warning after responding to losing a point in a match at the Hamburg Open pulling his shorts down. 

His most notorious incident came in 2022, when he became involved in a fist fight at the net with Adrian Andreev following a match at a second-tier tournament. The furious French Tennis Federation withdrew his funding and coaching support.

Earlier that year he had been disqualified for another foul-mouthed outburst at the Adelaide International. Moutet shouted “f***n you” towards the umpire after blowing a 40-0 advantage and losing a game which cost him the second set.