'It's allowed!' - Genius, fluke or bad sportsmanship? Sebastian Korda's baffling winner at Australian Open

ByDan Quarrell

Updated 19/01/2022 at 11:48 GMT

The moment to remember from a remarkable match was perhaps a bizarre point which ended with Sebastian Korda appearing to leave a ball that was close to the baseline, before suddenly sticking out a racquet and pulling off a crazy drop shot. To say that Corentin Moutet was less-than-impressed by the stunt, whether accidental or intentional, would be an understatement.

Sebastian Korda and Corentin Moutet played out a pulsating and fiery five-set thriller in the second round of the Australian Open with plenty of drama.

The fans around Court 8 at Melbourne Park were raucous and delighted at the treat they were served up by both players with Korda eventually clinching a 3-6 6-4 6-7(2) 7-5 7-6(6) victory.

Moutet, ever the showman, even posed for a selfie before the decisive 10-point tie-break in an absurd and entertaining moment in the four-hour, 47-minute clash.

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But the moment to remember was a bizarre point which ended with Korda appearing to leave a ball that was close to the baseline, before suddenly sticking out a racquet and pulling off a crazy drop shot.

To say that Moutet was less-than-impressed by the stunt, whether accidental or intentional, would be an understatement.

The Frenchman felt that Korda had deliberately pretended to leave the ball to indicate that it had drifted long, before fooling him with a last-gasp flick. But did he really mean to do it?

Korda, who shocked Britain's Cameron Norrie in the first round, celebrated and soaked up the ovation from the jubilant crowd, but did look both sheepish and baffled himself.

Moutet remonstrated with the umpire after his initial confusion and suggested that it was a case of bad sportsmanship from his opponent.

"It's allowed!" the umpire could be heard to say to a bewildered Moutet.

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Highlights: Korda outlasts Moutet in classic five-set marathon

Regardless of whether it was a genius piece of showboating that Nick Kyrgios would have been proud of, a total blunder that turned out to be a fluke, or the poor form that Moutet suggested, it was both dramatic and amusing.

The 21-year-old will next take on Pablo Carreno Busta, who himself produced a wacky shot on the same day with a winner played from inside his opponent's half of the court.

Have you seen this before? Carreno Busta wins point from opponent's side of net

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