French Open star smashes racket into his own head in moment of rage
Denis Shapovalov could not contain his rage after missing two easy opportunities.
Denis Shapovalov exploded into a fit of rage and smashed his racket over his own head during his match against Hubert Hurkacz at the French Open. The Canadian faced Hurkacz in the third round after beating Luca Van Assche and Frances Tiafoe in his first two outings.
Hurkacz raced into the lead, winning the opening set by six games to three as the Pole laid down an early marker. Shapovalov was visibly frustrated with his own performance as well as the worsening conditions, with the 25-year-old regularly complaining about the rain in Paris.
At one point, Shapovalov was tipped over the edge after failing to break Hurkacz at 4-3 down in the first set. He missed two good chances at the net and was unable to contain his rage when Hurkacz saved the point as he smashed his racket over his own head not once, but twice.
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Shapovalov gave a better account of himself in the second set and was up by six games to five when the match was suspended for the second time due to wet weather.
His display of anger came just hours after Andrey Rublev had a meltdown of his own during his surprise defeat to Matteo Arnaldi, who beat the Russian in straight sets. Rublev screamed at his box, smashed his racket, kicked his bench and repeatedly smacked himself in the knee before apologising for his behaviour after the match.
"Completely disappointed with myself the way I behaved, the way I performed, and I don't remember behaving worse on a Slam ever," said Rublev. "I think it was the first time I ever behaved that bad. Not much to say."
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There was another furious moment at the French Open on Friday when Arthur Rinderknech was forced to retire from his match against Tomas Martin Etcheverry in embarrassing circumstances. He kicked out at an advertising board in frustration while he was a break down in the fourth set and needed to see the physio before pulling out of the match due to the injury his outburst had caused.
Rinderknech later expressed concern that he had broken his toe, saying: "I shot into the wall, a little annoyance, at 2-0, when I got broken in the fourth and I don't really know, at the moment. I hope I didn't break my toe. Afterwards, I couldn’t put my foot on the ground any more."
