[ad_1]
Tennis star Alexander Bublik saw red as he proceeded to destroy three of his rackets. The 25-year-old opened his title defense at the Open Sud de France against home favorite Grégoire Barrère. After losing the first set, the world number 50 won a thrilling second set 7-6, 12-10 in a tiebreak to force a decider.
But he was unable to protect his lead and when the pair reached the crucial breaker, the defending champion lost his temper in a big way. After losing six straight points, which included three double faults, Bublik hit the ground five times.
If that wasn’t enough, Bublik grabbed another stick and gave it four hard whacks that stunned the Montpellier crowd. He was greeted with jeers as he repeated the procedure with the third instrument, before finally changing his head to a warning about club abuse.
“The good news is he has a lot of other clubs,” said the commentary team on the call.
JUST IN: French tennis star pulls out in tears after horror fall injury in front of home crowd
Bublik was able to save three match points before Barrère sealed the famous victory. The defending champion, who won his maiden title at the same event a year ago against Olympic champion Alexander Zverev, finished with 19 aces and a whopping 14 double faults when he fell at the first hurdle this time.
Elsewhere in the tournament, Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who claimed he became a “nobody” after defeating Novak Djokovic en route to the Monte Carlo Masters final last year, advanced to the next round but not in pleasant circumstances. The world number 30 had just won a crucial point in a tense first-round match against opponent Ugo Humbert, who then suffered a nasty fall. The Frenchman was unable to continue the match as the matches were locked.
Despite the heat of the moment, the Spaniard’s only concern was the well-being of his longtime friend as he immediately rushed to Humbert’s side. “I have known him since I was a child and I know him very well. It’s never easy to see a friend like this,” said the visibly emotional 23-year-old in his court interview.
DON’T GO ANYWHERE
“He was just flying around the field and I was like, ‘something happened’ because he was crying and [it was] hard. Then the match was over. He fought [very well], with all the crowd… I did my best. I wanted to play the third set, but playing injured is never easy.
Cheered on by the home crowd, Humbert won the first set 6-1, but trailed 1-3 in the tie-break of the second set when the incident occurred. Humbert bravely tried to continue the game, but after Davidovich Fokina went to the second round, the 24-year-old withdrew from the match.
“I hope he recovers and plays next week, but now he has to focus on recovery,” said Davidovich Fokina of Humbert, world No. 85. “He’s playing very well … He’ll be back. [up the rankings] certainly.”
|
Sources 2/ https://www.express.co.uk/sport/tennis/1732515/Tennis-star-smashes-three-rackets-rage-tennis-news The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article |
[ad_2]