How did a great tennis entertainer go too far?<\/p>\n
Down 6-5 toward the end of the second set of his rubber against Rapha\u00ebl Collignon during France\u2019s Davis Cup<\/a> quarterfinal against Belgium Tuesday, Corentin Moutet<\/a> did what he so often does. He opted against playing the simple shot, and went for the spectacular.<\/p>\n For Moutet, the spectacular is routine. So when an out-of-position Collignon hoisted up a hopeful lob, the Frenchman would have had little doubt that a through-the-legs half-volley would be a winning play. Instead, he got it catastrophically wrong, barely made contact with the ball, and lost the point. Having won the first set 6-2, Moutet was broken to lose the second 7-5 and went on to lose the match, too. France then lost the second singles rubber, so was eliminated.<\/p>\n Corentin Moutet attempted this completely unnecessary trick shot while up 6-2 5-6, 15-15 on Raphael Collignon of Belgium, leading to France, not just himself, losing the set and the match, and now being at risk of elimination in the Davis Cup Finals.<\/p>\n No words. pic.twitter.com\/pnwyTgShKq<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) November 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Moutet\u2019s shot selection became the hinge point of the tie, with its apparent recklessness undercut by the fact that playing such a shot is very much in his nature. He produced a stunning one at Wimbledon against Francisco Comesa\u00f1a of Argentina in July, and was applauded for it; his mastery of the underarm serve<\/a> is one of the most thrilling elements of his game.<\/p>\n After his match with Collignon in the Italian city of Bologna, Moutet said the shot was borne out of nervousness, rather than complacency.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that the stress, the tension of the match, the emotion, that\u2019s how I expressed it,\u201d he said in a news conference. \u201cI was tight on this game. So I think that\u2019s why I did it.\u201d<\/p>\n It served as a reminder that stress manifests itself differently in different players, and that team events can be the most gruelling of all. For some players, that stress means an overly aggressive second serve that misses, for others, it\u2019s a more conservative play. For Moutet, it was this.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you want me to say?\u201d Moutet had said earlier. \u201cWas it the best shot to play? I\u2019m not sure. Or is the best choice to do on this ball? I\u2019m not sure, as well. What can I say? I made it (that shot) many times. People said I\u2019m a genius when I made it. Now they\u2019re probably going to say that I\u2019m a clown. That\u2019s how I feel right now.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cIt was an important point. Will be much smarter to finish with a volley. I said, \u2018I cannot play this shot again\u2019. If I would have to play it again, I would do different, for sure. It\u2019s easy to criticize when it doesn\u2019t go well, and say that it\u2019s a great shot when I make it. So I\u2019m trying not to be too hard on myself. In the same time, I try to be honest with myself, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Moutet, who achieved a career-high ranking of No. 31 a few weeks ago, is coming off the back of a very successful 2025.<\/p>\n Will he ever change his penchant for trying these high-wire shots? And, given playing that way has got him this far, should he?<\/p>\n \u2014 Charlie Eccleshare<\/p>\n Who will join Roger Federer in the Tennis Hall of Fame next year?<\/p>\n \u201cThis is one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport,\u201d longtime tennis broadcaster Mary Carillo said during an interview last Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n Carillo wasn\u2019t talking about a match. She was talking about her election to the International Tennis Hall of Fame<\/a>, which she will enter next August alongside someone called Roger Federer<\/a>.<\/p>\n She may not be wrong. And that\u2019s not to denigrate her broadcast contributions, which have been at the top of the field for going on 50 years.<\/p>\n On the court, Carillo didn\u2019t crack the top 30. Her lone major win was a French Open mixed doubles title in 1977, partnered by a high-school kid named John McEnroe. In singles, she never made it past the third round at a Grand Slam. She was done at 23.<\/p>\n \u201cI sure as hell didn\u2019t get in on my tennis,\u201d Carillo, whose Olympic Games coverage helped her enter the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2018, said Wednesday.<\/p>\n No, she did not. She spoke her mind, and lost contracts because of it \u2014 yet another reason to bet against her \u2014 but ultimately beamed insight and humor about her sport all around the world.<\/p>\n \u201cYoy get forced to make decisions about what you want to be,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Carillo made some good choices. Off to Newport she goes.<\/p>\n \n Mary Carillo will enter the International Tennis Hall of Fame next year. (Sarah Stier \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n \u2014 Matt Futterman<\/p>\n How will a doubles great leave his mark on his home country?<\/p>\n This week sees an ATP Tour event taking place in Pakistan for the first time, with the Islamabad Challenger starting Monday.<\/p>\n The tournament is the brainchild of the Pakistani Tennis Federation president Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, far and away the most successful player in the country\u2019s history. A doubles specialist, Qureshi reached the U.S. Open final in 2010 with partner Rohan Bopanna and was ranked as high as eighth in the world. He retired this year, aged 45, but will play the Challenger as a last farewell.<\/p>\n Securing an event in Pakistan is a source of immense pride for Qureshi, who is desperate to grow the sport in a nation where, generally, cricket rules. He only got the go-ahead less than two months ago, and so it\u2019s been a scramble trying to get everything ready. \u201cI think it\u2019s going to change the whole dynamics and ecosystem of tennis,\u201d Qureshi told a couple of reporters at the ATP Tour Finals 10 days ago.<\/p>\n During his career, there were times when Davis Cup ties couldn\u2019t be hosted in Pakistan because of security concerns. And this week\u2019s event has added significance because of the military conflict with neighbor India earlier this year, as well as tensions between Pakistan and Israel. Israeli citizens are not permitted to enter Pakistan, and vice versa.<\/p>\n Qureshi has previously been denied access to Israel, India and China for events, and had to make use of the ATP Tour provision that places players in other tournaments should they be unable to get a visa somewhere.<\/p>\n He has long seen sport as a way to bridge geopolitical divides, and said that he \u201clearned a lot about finding solutions, about peace, about love, friendship\u201d during his career. He played doubles with the Israeli Amir Haddad, in 2002, and with India\u2019s Bopanna \u2014 getting to that New York final \u2014 in 2010. Manohar Singh Gill, then India\u2019s sports minister, said ahead of that match against Bob and Mike Bryan: \u201cI have one question for everyone. If Bopanna and Qureshi can play together, why cannot India and Pakistan?\u201d<\/p>\n Qureshi is one of only four players in ATP history to win the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award twice, doing so in those years partnering with Haddad and then Bopanna.<\/p>\n The short-notice field in Islamabad means that eighth-seeded Dominik Palan is ranked outside the world\u2019s top 500, only three players in the draw are ranked in the top 300 and world No. 169 Elias Ymer is the top seed. Nonetheless, Qureshi hopes the event will help Pakistani players, by giving them their first experience of ATP Tour tennis.<\/p>\n \u201cI want more Pakistanis to be on the Tour,\u201d he said, \u201cand hopefully this chapter will open a lot of doors for international tennis in Pakistan in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Charlie Eccleshare<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfc6\u00a0The winners of the week<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfbe\u00a0ATP:\u00a0<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfc6 Italy def. Spain 2-0 to win the Davis Cup in Bologna, Italy. It is Italy\u2019s third consecutive Davis Cup title.<\/p>\n Tell us what you noticed this week in the comments below.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Mary-Carillo-Tennis-Broadcaster-scaled-e1763907590536.jpg\")
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