Hot-headed Andrey Rublev lost his cool spectacularly as he crashed out of the French Open with a straight-sets defeat to Matteo Arnaldi in the third round.
The 23-year-old Italian saved a set point in the opening set before going on to dominate his opponent, beating Rublev 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 6-4.
Twenty-three-year-old Matteo Arnaldi also reached the fourth round of last year’s US Open
The sixth-seeded Russian had a heated argument with umpire Lazemar Engzell during the second set over the mark left by a disputed line call.
Rublev promptly dropped serve and exploded with rage, smashing his racket to the ground and screaming towards his players’ box. At the changeover, the 26-year-old then repeatedly kicked his seat, leaving large dents in it.
In the third set, Rublev, by now on the verge of tears, began furiously hitting his knee with his racket as he was swept aside in straight sets.
“Completely disappointed with myself the way I behaved, the way I performed and I don’t remember behaving worse in a Grand Slam ever,” a remorseful Rublev said after the match.
“I think it was first time I’ve behaved that bad.”
Rublev has never got past the quarter-finals at a grand slam. He was tipped for a strong run at Roland Garros this year after winning his second career ATP Masters 1000 title in Madrid earlier this month but is now the highest-seeded casualty so far in the men’s draw.
Arnaldi will next play either Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas or China’s Zhang Zhizhen for a place in the quarter-finals
Sinner breezes by Kotov and into fourth round
World number two Jannik Sinner eased into the fourth round with a ruthless 6-4 6-4 6-4 victory against Pavel Kotov.
Jannik Sinner secured his safe passage through to the fourth round at Roland Garros in straight sets
The Australian Open champion faced only one break point on serve in a one-sided encounter, setting up a meeting with either Austrian Sebastian Ofner or French favourite Corentin Moutet in the last 16.
Kotov, who disposed of Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the first round and was hoping to beat a second Grand Slam champion in a row after eliminating Stan Wawrinka in the second, got off to a fiery start but Sinner was still a level above in the first set.
The Italian got another early break in the second to move two sets up and the same pattern was repeated in the third as Sinner wrapped up victory with an ace on match point.
Sinner also beat Kotov in straight sets in the Madrid Masters in April.
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