Corentin Moutet admitted to making a “stupid” mistake that put France in a losing position during their Davis Cup quarter-final tie against Belgium. The world No. 35 hit a tweener while serving to stay in the second set of his match against Raphael Collignon and sent it straight into the net. Collignon went on to break and won 2-6 7-5 7-5, and later admitted the missed tweener felt like a turning point.

France were ultimately eliminated when Arthur Rinderknech lost his singles rubber to Zizou Bergs. Moutet is known for his unpredictability on the court, but the 26-year-old later confessed that he “felt like a clown” after going for – and missing – a tweener.

Moutet had already taken the first set and was serving at 5-6 15-15 when he ran to the net to retrieve a ball. The Frenchman looked primed to put away a straightforward overhead, but at the last minute he flicked his racket between his legs and let the ball drop, hitting a tweener. 

The ball went straight into the net, giving Collignon the point. The world No. 86 broke in that game to force a deciding set. Had Moutet held, they would have gone to a tiebreak, where he’d have the chance to seal a straight-set victory.

The momentum switched, and the Belgian star got the win before Bergs delivered the final blow to France, eliminating them from the World Cup of men’s tennis when he beat Rinderknech 6-3 7-6(4). If France and Belgium had split the two singles matches, the tie would have gone down to a decisive doubles rubber – and Moutet was left with regret.

Asked about his decision to hit the through-the-legs shot at a crucial moment, the Frenchman replied: “I expected this question, not the first one, but I expected. What do you want me to say? Was it the best shot to play? I’m not sure. Or is the best choice to do on this ball? I’m not sure, as well.

“What can I say? I made it many times. People said I’m a genius when I made it. Now they’re probably going to say that I’m a clown. That’s how I feel right now. I think that the stress, the tension of the match, the emotion, that’s how I expressed it. I was tight on this game. So I think that’s why I did it.

“It’s hard to do the good choice, even if for the people it looks quite stupid to do this shot. Even for myself. I don’t know what to say. It was an important point. Will be much smarter to finish with a volley. I said I cannot play again this shot. If I would have to play it again, I would do different, for sure.

“Yeah, I mean, in the same time it’s easy to criticise when it doesn’t go well, and say that it’s a great shot when I make it. So I’m trying not to be too hard on myself. In the same time, I try to be honest with myself, as well. I could do much better choices on this shot.”

Moutet wasn’t the only one who felt that the point impacted the match, as his opponent openly admitted he got “lucky” when the world No. 35’s trickshot backfired.

“I think I was maybe a bit lucky that he chose to do this tweener at 6-5 because it was tough for me. I was not playing so good. He was dominating the match. But I think maybe at that moment the momentum switched a bit, which I managed to win that second set. Then I think I deserved to win at the end because I was playing better in the third set,” Collignon explained.