Corentin Moutet: Hot-headed Frenchman courts more controversy in HSBC Championship at Queen's Club

Hot-headed Frenchman Corentin Moutet courted more controversy in the HSBC Championship at Queen's Club on Thursday.

The 27-year-old had already caused a stir by swearing repeatedly during a live TV interview after his first-round win over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

This time, during his second-round match against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Moutet slipped on the court and then angrily slammed his racket on to the surface, a no-no on the manicured lawns of West Kensington.

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Former British No 1 Annabel Croft, commentating on the BBC, said: "You can get fined for that. He's facing enough fines already."

Moutet also aimed some colourful language - in his mother tongue - towards his coaching team and thwacked a ball out of the stadium after losing match point.

A 6-4 6-3 defeat was his fourth in four career meetings against Davidovich Fokina, who had accounted for British No 1 Cameron Norrie in the first round.

The eccentric Spanish fourth seed plays wearing one black sock and one white sock, and he joked he might ask for special dispensation to breach Wimbledon's strict all-white dress code later this month.

"Everybody asks me why I wear odd socks," he said. "It was a long time ago, I wore them and won that match and now I keep wearing them like that as a superstition. I will have to ask Wimbledon if I can keep wearing odd socks."

Davidovich Fokina faces Tommy Paul in Friday's quarter-final looking for his first win against the 29-year-old in six attempts.

The eighth seed, who last lost a match at Queen's Club in 2023, moved a step closer to reclaiming his crown as the king of Queen's by beating Botic van de Zandschulp 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 for his seventh straight win at the tournament.

Paul, 29, who was champion in 2024 and missed last year's event through injury, is bidding to join an exclusive club of Americans.

John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Andy Roddick are the only other multiple winners of the trophy from across the Atlantic in the open era.

"The beginning of the match he came out firing. I just told myself to stick around. The level got really high in the first set," said Paul, who had never beaten his Dutch opponent before.

"I was 0-2 against him before this match. I definitely knew it was going to be a tough one so it was really nice to get the win today."

Serena practises at Wimbledon ahead of Grand Slam return

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Serena Williams has been practising at Wimbledon as she prepares for her return to Grand Slam tennis later this month.

The 44-year-old was this week given a wild card into the women's doubles alongside sister Venus after beginning her comeback at Queen's Club.

Williams posted a video on Instagram on Thursday showing her at Wimbledon's Aorangi Park practice courts along with daughters Olympia and Adira.

Dressed in the All England Club's signature all white, Williams looked relaxed as she allowed eight-year-old Olympia to hit some forehands.

The sisters won the last of their 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together at Wimbledon a decade ago and have not played a match as a partnership since 2022.

Williams ended nearly four years away from the match court last week, winning her first contest at Queen's alongside Victoria Mboko before the Canadian's unfortunate injury curtailed their run.

She then headed to Berlin but suffered a first-round loss at the WTA Tour event playing with Karolina Muchova.

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