'Some explosion': Young gun obliterates racquet in 'embarrassing' ATP Cup tantrum
Karen Khachanov is the latest young gun to show his fiery temperament at the the ATP Cup, destroying a racquet in a monumental outburst on Saturday.
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev have already shown their penchant for angry outbursts at the tournament - and Khachanov joined them during the opening rubber of Russia’s semi-final clash with Serbia.
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Khachanov and Dusan Lajovic slugged it out in a scintillating opening set in Sydney, but Khachanov was left furious with himself when he let his opponent break to take it 7-5.
Khachanov unleashed on his racquet, obliterating the frame after two huge smashes into the court surface.
Understandably he received a code violation for his troubles.
Lajovic is not going anywhere, he's been unbelievable. When you play with Novak you lift another level, you have to, playing with the greatness demands it, I guess. That and the amazing Serbian support...
That's some explosion from Khachanov #ATPCup— Tony Tannous (@TonyTannousTRBA) January 11, 2020
Class from Lajovic to break and bag the opener 7-5. Khachanov's 1st serve went missing when he needed it. Racket's fault, obviously.#ATPCup pic.twitter.com/1FJ4rLfU2r
— JAbet (@JAbetOfficial) January 11, 2020
Racket casualty rankings:
Tsitsipas: 1
Paire: 1
Zverev: 1
Khachanov: 1 pic.twitter.com/QTF0yxRorS— Staudt (Bulls 13-20) (@tims_tweets_) January 11, 2020
#Khachanov needs a lesson in manners at the #ATPCup in #Sydney Embarrassing chucking a wobbly and smashing his racquet twice. Why is no action taken by Tennis Authorities ?
— Mick 🇦🇺🇮🇱🇵🇦🇿🇦🇳🇱 (@SirMickW) January 11, 2020
Oops I spoke too soon ... the dummy spitting continues in Sydney now by @karenkhachanov ... very classy and mature!! #ATPCup #khachanov #SRBRUS pic.twitter.com/m0E1iA0HbA
— literatelipstik (@literatelipsti1) January 11, 2020
Nadal unhappy with scheduling
A visibly agitated Rafael Nadal has delivered a backhander to ATP Cup organisers, complaining about scheduling after he suffered a rare singles defeat and Spain just scraped through to play Australia in the semi-finals.
The world No.1 was not at his best on Friday - and into the early hours of Saturday, losing in straight sets to Belgium's David Goffin and going down a set in the deciding doubles rubber.
With partner Pablo Carreno Busta the Spaniards eventually won the match in a super tiebreak, Roberto Bautista Agut's earlier singles victory ensuring the favourites progressed to the last four.
But Nadal was from happy.
At first he complained about the lack of ventilation in Ken Rosewall Arena but quickly broadened his attack to the tournament scheduling.
"David played a great match. Better than me. I was suffering a lot physically today. Was big humidity," he said.
"But at the same time it is fair to say that we are in the worst position to play the final eight, because we came from Perth.
"That's these three hours' time changing, different weather conditions, playing against a team that have been here for the last ten days, and we are the only team coming from Perth and playing until the last day of Perth and arriving here during the evening with jet lag, with everything.
"And today we had very heavy conditions out there, so probably we had the worst situation possible to play this tie."
with AAP
