Tennis champion Alexander Bublik took out three tennis rackets in frustration at the Montpellier Open after losing his lead to opponent Grégoire Barrère on Wednesday.
Bublik, ranked 50th in the world, won his first singles title at the Montpellier Open last season giving him 250 ranking points to defend, Defector reported. In his match-up against Barrère, ranked 75th, Bublik led four sets to two until the French player made a comeback and tied the set at six, Mediaite reported. With his lead all but dissolved, Bublik was already frustrated, but after suffering three double faults, he took that frustration to a whole new level — by smashing his racket into the court until it was completely destroyed..
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“Well, the good news is he’s got plenty of other rackets,” Broadcaster Sue Thearle said, according to the outlet.
But Bublik wasn’t finished.
After pulverizing his first racket, he walked over to the sidelines and picked up another and then another, until three rackets had been completely destroyed. (RELATED: ‘Got Me Up Here Smiling’: Former NFL Player Pranks Patrick Mahomes With Fake Quote)
When he picked up his fourth, it wasn’t immediately clear if that racket would fall to the same fate as the others, but Bublik spared it, hanging his head down in apparent defeat as he made his way to the other side of the court, according to Mediaite.
Barrère went on to defeat Bublik 7-3 in the tiebreak set to win the match. No other rackets were reported to have been harmed.