Russian Tennis Star Smashes Racquet Into His Crotch in Angry Outburst at French Open - Video
14:02 GMT 02.06.2022 (Updated: 11:44 GMT 10.12.2022)
© AP Photo / Jean-Francois Badias
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Tennis players are known for their outbursts on the court. In 2018, Serena Williams smashed her racquet, before calling the chair umpire a "liar" and "thief" in a fit of rage during her US Open final loss to Naomi Osaka. Earlier this year, Alexander Zverev was kicked out of the Mexican Open after an expletive-laden tirade against match officials.
World No.7 Andrey Rublev's outburst during his French Open quarterfinal loss to former US Open champion Marin Cilic has got everyone talking on social media, as the Russian was repeatedly seen hitting his crotch with his racquet.
Rublev, who eventually lost 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 in a fifth-set tiebreaker in a four-hour marathon to the Croatian, wasn't too impressed with his play during the middle stages of the match, especially in the fourth set.
But instead of taking out his frustration elsewhere, he grabbed his racquet and smashed it into "his balls". Strangely, though, he never appeared in any kind of pain and continued with his business for the remainder of the match.
Rublev's actions became a topic of hot debate on Twitter with one fan asking: "Did Rublev just whack himself in the balls with his racket 5 times?"
Rublev, who eventually lost 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 in a fifth-set tiebreaker in a four-hour marathon to the Croatian, wasn't too impressed with his play during the middle stages of the match, especially in the fourth set.
But instead of taking out his frustration elsewhere, he grabbed his racquet and smashed it into "his balls". Strangely, though, he never appeared in any kind of pain and continued with his business for the remainder of the match.
Rublev's actions became a topic of hot debate on Twitter with one fan asking: "Did Rublev just whack himself in the balls with his racket 5 times?"
someone should really explain to rublev those are not the balls you're supposed to hit in tennis 😭 https://t.co/YnGbuPfv32
— kris 💙💛 (@ultimatesugg) June 1, 2022
"That what I thought had happened", another said while replying to the previous user's tweet.
Coming back to the match, the 24-year-old's anger, however, didn't help him in stopping Cilic from securing a place in the semifinals of the clay-court Grand Slam for the first time in his career.
Cilic will now take on Casper Ruud in the semis on Friday.
Coming back to the match, the 24-year-old's anger, however, didn't help him in stopping Cilic from securing a place in the semifinals of the clay-court Grand Slam for the first time in his career.
Cilic will now take on Casper Ruud in the semis on Friday.
