A TENNIS star has claimed his rival threatened to kill him during a shock mid-match confrontation.
French player Corentin Moutet has made the allegations against Russian ace Pavel Kotov.
Corentin Moutet claims his rival threatened to kill him
Pavel Kotov is yet to respond to the allegationsThe pair met in the first round of a event last night in the city of Aix en Provence, just 20 miles outside of Marseille.
It was a lengthy encounter and the score was poised in a deciding set at 7-5, 3-6, 5-5 when light faded and play was suspended.
As both trudged off ahead of a return today, Kotov supposedly made a death threat to Moutet.
Moutet, who made fourth round of the last year, alleged in a now-deleted post that his opponent said: “Next time you come to the net, I’ll kill you.One day, someone will kill you.”;
He added: “There wasn’t even a warning. Apparently, those words are allowed on court.
“How do you (the ATP) expect me not to get involved if you don’t do your job?”;
After axing the tweet, Moutet responded to a news account posting about his allegations, replying: “I’m going to have trouble sleeping.”;
Kotov, who was ranked world No50 last summer, has not responded to the claims.
The match continued this morning and Moutet sealed victory 7-5.
He celebrated wildly and there was between them.
Both have a history of controversy â with Moutet involved in a bust-up with Alexander Bublik six weeks ago that saw Kazakhstar offer to .
As for Kotov, he was labelled a “disgrace”; at last year’s for , which left her cowering in terror.
