World No. 69 Corentin Moutet made a shock revelation following an Australian Open third-round defeat, saying he collapsed in the shower before the match and spent 15 minutes "lying in the dark" before recollecting and realizing what had happened.
ADVERTISEMENT
On Saturday, the Frenchman exited the Happy Slam in the third round after rising star Learner Tien - who upset Daniil Medvedev in the previous round - handed him a 7-6 (10) 6-3 6-3 defeat.
Early in the match, Moutet twice recovered from a break down before ultimately losing the first set through a very tight tie-break.
While the first set was a very tight battle, the world No. 69 didn't stand much of a chance in the rest of the match.
Later, the 25-year-old shared that he started feeling tired during the second set and that there was a scary scene before the match.
Moutet: I woke up on the floor, in the dark, not knowing what happened
"I was in the shower, I woke up on the floor. I was in the dark, I couldn't see anything. I don't know what happened. I just know I spent 15 minutes in the dark," the Frenchman told L'Equipe.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I was a bit dazed from the fall. I didn't hurt myself, but I was dazed.
"It was unexpected because I felt good all day, not too much aches, I was pretty fit, I had recovered well from my previous matches. It was a bit disturbing.
"During the warm-up, there was a bit of panic wondering how I was going to do it. It was hot today, it was tough physically."
On the positive side, the former world No. 51 was at least able to play out a full match against Tien - so that's encouraging.
Before losing to the American, Moutet defeated Alexei Popyrin and Mitchell Krueger.
This was the French tennis player's first tournament of the 2025 season.
