Andrey Rublev, the famously hot-headed Russian, smashed his racket seven times over his knee in a meltdown en route to his humbling at the hands of Francisco Comesaña.
The Wimbledon sixth seed’s tantrum after a wayward shot sparked audible gaps and came two months after he also lost his cool at the French Open.
Some viewers expressed concern over Rublev’s welfare after he crashed his racket against his leg six times in frenzied fashion before adding a seventh for good measure.
It had been a tight match between the sixth seed and outsider Comesaña on No 2 Court, but the Argentinian eventually won 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 7-6.
Rublev’s meltdown took place in the fourth game of the third set, with the two players having won a set each. Comesaña broke Rublev for the second time in the set to go 4-1 up, leading to a furious reaction from the Russian after he hit a wild groundstroke.
In May, Rublev had been involved in a heated argument with umpire Lazemar Engzell, having smashed his racket to the ground and screamed towards his players’ box. Rublev was apologetic for his behaviour at the time, saying, “I don’t remember behaving worse at a slam ever”.
Comesaña, meanwhile, has claimed a major scalp in his first match at a grand slam, having belied his lack of experience, playing with poise and control from the start. The 23-year-old broke his opponent for a 3-2 lead in the first set and then held to win it, much to the frustration of Rublev, who frequently screamed out loud and remonstrated with his courtside coaching team.
Rublev broke early in the second and began to assert himself, frequently wrong-footing Comesaña or drawing him into long rallies and overpowering him with powerful forehand shots. Comesaña fought his way back from three set points down twice in the second set before losing it.
But the Argentine, who fired down 21 aces in all, powered through the rain-interrupted third set and narrowly outdid Rublev for guile and accuracy in the fourth before drawing an unforced error from the Russian to finish the match in style.
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