Alexander Bublik, a 25-year-old tennis pro from Kazakhstan, lost his composure after an unexpected defeat to unranked opponent Grégoire Barrère on Thursday at the Open Sud de France. He also broke three of his rackets.
In a match in which he committed 14 double faults, Bublik lost against Barrère 6-4, 6-7 (12), and 7-6 (3), failing to retain his title as champion of the French event.
When Barrère leads 6-0 in the third set of the match, both players switch ends, and video captures Bublik smashing his racket to bits.
In front of the boisterous audience, Bublik, who was rated No. 6 in the event and No. 50 overall, strides back to his bench and pulls a best-impersonation Nick Kyrgios, shattering two more shattered rackets to make it three.
The 25-year-season old’s record now reads 0–6.
“This should be the last play of the game. There is absolutely no need for that, a Twitter user stated.
Another user called it “appalling.” “Make him use that racket,” I said.
When Australian tennis star Kyrgios destroyed two of his rackets during a quarterfinal defeat to Karen Khachanov at the US Open in September, he was assessed a significant punishment of $14,000.
Bublik often loses his composure on the court when things don’t go his way.
After falling short against Maxime Cressy in July’s ATP Hall of Fame Open final, Bublik’s awkward runner-up statement had the spectators scratching its head.
“I don’t have anything to say. Sincerely speaking, I’m quite disappointed with the result, but I want to congratulate Max on winning his first championship,” the Kazakhstani athlete said.
Bublik continues, “I mean, if you have that wonderful luck put all of your money on red, please; you’re going to win huge.”
After winning his first ATP Tour title in the fifth final in 2019, Bublik, who had previously peaked at number 30, has a career record of 103-103.
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