Andrey Rublev suffered an ugly meltdown during his opening match at the French Open on Tuesday.
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The seventh seed fought back to a 6-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over Korea’s Soon-woo Kwon but the match was not without controversy.
😱 Aman diyelim Andrey Rublev! Aman aman… #RolandGarros
Kortlarda son dönemde daha sık gördüğümüz agresif tepkiler hakkında ne düşünüyorsunuz? pic.twitter.com/p5wLyjSJHv
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After losing the opening set, Rublev angrily hit a ball, which pinged off the player’s bench and nearly hit the court sweeper on the head.
He then threw a water bottle after sitting in the chair.
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“Yes, I lost my mind for a moment, and of course I regret what I did,” the Russian said in the post-match press conference.
“It’s unacceptable to hit the ball the way I hit it. It’s more, I don’t know, better even if I just hit the racquet on the seat, because the ball can affect — I mean, it’s not about me. It can affect someone.
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“That’s when the problem comes. This is unprofessional from my side and hopefully I will never do it again.”
Though Rublev apologised for losing his temper, his conduct added to the growing trend of bad behaviour from male pros.
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