Alexander Bublik and Corentin Moutet’s second-round match at the 2025 Paris Masters was filled with drama and controversy. After the match, both players had some strong words for each other.
This was not the first time this year that Bublik and Moutet had a heated exchange on the court. Before their match in Paris, they faced off in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Arizona Tennis Classic, where tensions escalated so much that the umpires had to intervene.
Corentin Moutet Talks About Alexander Bublik’s Post-Match Comments
Bublik, seeded 13th at the 2025 Paris Masters, began his campaign by defeating Alexei Popyrin in the first round with a scoreline of 6-4, 6-3. He then faced Moutet in the second round, winning by a score of 6-3, 7-5. With this victory, he extended his head-to-head record against the Frenchman on the ATP Tour to two wins and no losses.
After his win over Moutet, Bublik signed the camera lens with the message, “On the way home.” He stated that Moutet talked too much before the match, which is why he felt the need to “punish him” and send him “home.”
“Well obviously he spoke too much before the match. He spoke too much. I just have to punish him. I have no other option. He said he would do everything to send me home. So it’s nice that he lives in Paris and it’s not too far with the taxi,” Bublik said.
Bublik signs the camera after beating Corentin Moutet at the Paris Masters
“On the way home”
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) October 29, 2025
In response to Bublik’s comments, Moutet remarked that the Kazakh falls into a group of players who enjoy “verbally clashing” with others and expressed that he didn’t think Bublik’s comments were “personal.”
“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,” Moutet said.
Moutet acknowledged that he understands Bublik’s “character” and noted that people can see this clearly through Bublik’s portrayal of himself.
“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,” he added.
Before facing Bublik in the second round of the 2025 Paris Open, Moutet defeated lucky loser Reilly Opelka in the first round, winning with a score of 3-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Who Will Bublik Face at the 2025 Paris Masters 3R?
Following his victory over Moutet in the second round of the 2025 Paris Masters, Bublik is set to face Taylor Fritz in the third round of the tournament.
In the lead-up to the ATP Masters 1000 hard court tournament in Paris, Fritz participated in the 2025 Swiss Indoors. He was the top seed, and he began his campaign by defeating wild card Valentin Vacherot in the first round, securing the win with a scoreline of 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-5. His run ended in the second round, where he lost to Ugo Humbert with a score of 6-3, 6-4.
At the Paris Masters, Fritz is seeded fourth and started his campaign in the second round after receiving a first-round bye. In his opening match, he faced qualifier Aleksandar Vukic, winning in straight sets with a score of 7-6(4), 6-2, which advanced him to the third round against Bublik.
Bublik and Fritz have met 6 times on the ATP Tour, with both players winning three matches each. Their most recent encounter was in the first round of the 2024 Paris Olympics, where Fritz won with a scoreline of 6-4, 6-4.
The winner of the third-round match between Bublik and Fritz at the 2025 Paris Masters will advance to face either the sixth seed, Alex de Minaur, or the tenth seed, Karen Khachanov, in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
