Tabilo vs. Moutet Was An Exciting Time In Santiago, Chile At The Miami Open

By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

It was great to spend nearly three hours in Santiago, Chile Friday night at the Miami Open tennis championships.

That’s what it felt like on Court 5 at the Hard Rock Stadium tennis complex in the late afternoon during the second round match between Alejandro Tabilo of Chile and Corentin Moutet of France. The match took on the atmosphere of being in the Chilean capital with an overflow crowd of probably 1,000 fans singing Chilean national songs and chats, waving flags and, well, heckling the entertaining but dramatic Moutet.  

One of the few French fans in the stands, however, was Thomas Levet, the former Ryder Cup golfer for France who finished runner-up to Ernie Els at the 2002 Open Championship. But support for the Frenchman Moutet in this atmosphere was as loud as a polite golf clap after a tap-in par.

This was one of those signature matches annually at the Miami Open that features a South American player, which brings a unique electricity to the tournament where a wide mixture of South American fans attend and enjoy. Just the night before, the Stadium court inside Hard Rock Stadium was in full buzz when Brazilian teenage phenom Joao Fonseca attracted a huge and energetic crowd of about 14,000, a loud majority being Brazilian or Brazilian origin. In the final of this tournament on March 29, 1998 when it was played in Key Biscayne, Chileans dominated in the stands with their chants and songs when their all-time greatest player Marcelo Rios won the title to clinch the world No. 1 ranking.

However, this match between Tabilo, ranked No. 31 in the world, and Moutet, ranked No. 76, went a little more bonkers than usual. The mercurial Moutet is crafty lefthander who has a flair for the dramatic – in shot-making and attitude. One of his special attributes is his penchant to hit underhand serves that you can read about here: https://worldtennismagazine.com/underarm-servers-at-the-miami-open-and-beyond/24719

Moutet didn’t waste any time hitting an underhand serve, acing Tabilo, also a left-hander, to open up his second service game when trailing 0-3. Moutet’s underarm delivery wasn’t met to kindly by the Chilean fans, who whistled and heckled him, one yelling “chicka” which means “girl” in Spanish. Moutet clawed back into the match and eventually served out the first set 7-5, capping the set with another underhand serve ace.

Moutet had his chances in the second set but was broken and Tabilo served for the set at 5-3. During the subsequent game, Moutet started to taunt the vocal Chilean crowd who throughout the match chanted the famous “Chi. Chi. Chi. Lay. Lay. Lay. Chi-le. Chi-le” chant. Moutet waved his racquet to the Chilean fans like a conductor does to an orchestra. When Tabilo reached set point at 40-30, Moutet approached chair umpire Fergus Murphy to complain about a specific fan from behind the court whom he wanted thrown out for, what he thought, was over-the-top bad behavior. Murphy refused the request and, with the delay to the match, eventually issued a point penalty that awarded Tabilo the set. Moutet continued to argue with Murphy, the ATP Tour supervisor who also came to the court, and he continued to verbally spar with Chilean fans. As the arguments continued, Murphy then issued a game penalty to Moutet, giving Tabilo a service break to start the third set.

All the while, the Chilean fans, waving flags and wearing soccer jerseys, continued to yell at Moutet while singing and chanting. I asked the fellow in front of me wearing a Chilean No. 9 soccer jersey in front of me what the lyrics of the song meant in English. “It means ‘Go for the win Chile…you have to win this afternoon.’” He also reminded me that Moutet had had some previous confrontations with Chilean fans when he played in the ATP event in Santiago a year ago against another Chilean Nicolas Jarry. “The fans remember that,” he said.

Moutet eventually calmed down and resumed play but was playing catch-up to Tabilo. Serving at 3-5, Moutet saved two match points mainly by Tabilo playing tentatively but he then hit the shot of the match, perhaps the shot of tournament and certainly a nominee for the shot of the year. At deuce, he approached the net and Tabilo was only able to hit dying duck backhand that was creeping close the line. Moutet, with the precision of ballet dancer, positioned to hit the ball as a half-volley through his legs at an incredible angle cross-court for a winner. The shot would have been incredible just for its incredible angle even if it was not hit through the legs! And if he missed it, he would be down another match point! The shot was so impressive that the Chilean fans who had been heckling Moutet for the last two-and-a-half hours stood, clapped and bowed to him for executing the incredible trick shot at such a monumental point in the match.

Tabilo, perhaps rattled by what he just saw, lost the next point and then, with several unforced errors, capped with a volley dumped in the net, was unable to close out the match. However, with fans hanging over the Dobel Tequila Club two and three deep from behind the court, he was able to rally to break Moutet right back in the next game. “Bon voyage Moutet,” yelled a Chilean fan in a thick accent as Tabilo, albeit still a bit shaky, was able to finally close out the victory.

Game. Set. Match. Tabilo 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 in two hours, 51 minutes.

As a fan, it was time well spent in Santiago, Chile at the Miami Open.