Tennis tantrums have long been part and parcel of the sport, but this is one for the record books.
Russian-Kazakhstani tennis star Alexander Bublik lost his cool overnight at the Open Sud de France, smashing three racquets consecutively in a fit of rage.
The defending champion of the tournament, Bublik lost the plot in the closing stages of his first-round defeat to local hope Gregoire Barrere.
As he fell 6-0 down in the tie-breaker in the deciding third set, the world No.50 smashed his racquet into the court to a shocked crowd who audibly gasped.
As he walked towards his tennis bag, the commentator can be heard saying “the good news is he’s got plenty of other racquets,” but she had spoken too soon.
Another racquet “got the treatment as well,” a second commentator said before Bublik grabbed a third to which the unimpressed commentator added “well this is getting out of hand now.”
The 25-year-old did fight off three match points after the tantrum but the damage was done and he fell to a 6-4, 6-7 (12-14), 7-6 (7-3) defeat.
Bublik was up an early break in the deciding set, but gave it up after serving three double faults.
He also began the deciding tie-break by serving another three double faults, which brought on the spectacular tantrum.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic has been named on the entry list for the upcoming Indian Wells tennis tournament, but he is expected to be barred from travelling to the United States to compete due to his ongoing refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Serbian world No.1 is a five-time champion at the ATP 1000 event but has not played a match on the hard courts in the southern California desert since 2019.
The US has in place a vaccine requirement for foreign air travellers that is not expected to be lifted before main draw action kicks off on March 9.
US President Joe Biden’s administration last month said it would lift COVID-19 emergency declarations on May 11, nearly three years after the United States imposed sweeping pandemic measures to curb the spread of the illness.
