Darcis defends Moutet: "That's how he puts on a show because he's an artist"

The captain of the Belgian Davis Cup team, Steve Darcis, was questioned about the famous between-the-legs shot that Corentin Moutet completely missed during the match against his player Raphaël Collignon on Tuesday evening in the quarter-finals of this team competition.

AFP

Adrien Guyot

le 19/11/2025 à 08h04

2 min to read

Darcis Moutet

On Tuesday evening, Belgium delivered an outstanding performance to eliminate France in the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup. Led by Raphaël Collignon and Zizou Bergs, Steve Darcis's team thwarted the plans of Corentin Moutet and Arthur Rinderknech, both of whom were defeated.

One of the turning points of this match occurred during the first singles match when Moutet, at the end of the second set, decided to hit a shot between his legs even though the court was open. However, the Frenchman missed his shot, before losing the set a few points later. In a press conference, Darcis defended his opponent of the day.

"His shot certainly didn't help him. But he had made genius shots before. He's a magician, he's a guy who plays like that. I don't think we can blame him. That's how he plays well, that's how he annoys others, that's how he puts on a show because he's an artist. It didn't work today (Tuesday) on an important point. It probably turned the match around.

If one of my players does that, I'd punch his face, I don't know! We don't have artists like Corentin. We have players who play simply. He has talent, he does something different. That's why he's world number 35. My speech isn't diplomatic. It's too easy to say: 'if he hadn't done this'... If he didn't do that, he wouldn't be world number 35. You have to take him with his qualities and his flaws," Darcis thus stated for L'Équipe.