"You got embarrassed in your own country by Nadal; shut your mouth" - Tennis fans outraged by Corentin Moutet's 'cheating' dig at Maria Sharapova

Tennis fans have not taken kindly to Corentin Moutet taking a shot at Maria Sharapova for "cheating."

Following the release of the second part of the Netflix tennis docuseries 'Break Point' on June 21, the ATP tour released a short promotional clip on social media. The 15-second clip featured Nick Kyrgios engaging in his trademark controversial behavior, arguing with chair umpires and expressing his refusal to adhere to antiquated rules.

Moutet expressed his dissatisfaction with the angle of the promo, criticizing how the ATP fined players for such conduct on the court and then capitalized on the same for profit.

"Giving big fines when we express ourselves on the court and then promoting tennis and earning money on those moments.. kind of funny," Moutet tweeted.

In response, a fan questioned whether Moutet expressed himself by "cheating," referring to the Frenchman's previous claim that players' contentious on-court behavior was just their way of "expressing themselves."

After observing that the fan had Maria Sharapova in their profile picture, Moutet hit back by taking a dig at the former World No. 1 for "cheating," alluding to the drug ban handed to her in 2016.

"Funny that you talk about cheating when your profile picture is Sharapova," he shot back.

The incident comes on the heels of Moutet mocking Emma Raducanu's revelation about her occasional regret over winning the 2021 US Open title.

Several fans pointed to Sharapova's achievements as a five-time Grand Slam champion and criticized the Frenchman for his words.

"Maybe if you "cheated" you could've gotten 5 ITF titles let alone 5 grand slams," a fan commented.

"At least she won 5 gs titles, you can't even win a title," another fan chimed in.

Another fan questioned Moutet's credentials in taking a shot at Maria Sharapova by labeling his resounding defeat to Rafael Nadal at the 2022 French Open as the biggest moment of his career.

"How are you actually talking when the biggest moment in your career was when you got embarrassed in your own country by Nadal," the fan posted.

Here are a few more fan reactions to Corentin Moutet's dig at Maria Sharapova:

Maria Sharapova: “At the moment I don't see my heir on the horizon”

Maria Sharapova at the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco

Over the course of her illustrious career, Maria Sharapova won five Grand Slam titles — Wimbledon 2004, US Open 2006, Australian Open 2008, and French Open 2012 and 2014. She completed the Career Slam in 2012, making her only one of six women in the Open Era to do so.

The 36-year-old spent 21 weeks as World No. 1, won the WTA Finals in 2004 and was also the silver medallist at the 2012 London Olympics.

While many players have been compared to Sharapova, she herself doesn't see any player currently on the tour who can be heralded as her heir.

“At the moment I don't see my heir on the horizon. There are excellent players with different styles,” she told Gazzetta dello Sport (via ubitennis).