Professional tennis player Daniil Medvedev didn't have a good day at the U.S. Open on August 24.
And he took it out on his racket. And then some.
Medvedev had several meltdowns on the court during his first-round loss, first yelling at the referee and then obliterating his racket.
Video captured Medvedev engaged in the epic racket-smashing incident on the sidelines. He smashed the racket so many times it looked mangled. Then, he paused for a moment before smashing the racket again.
Medvedev also went ballistic when a photographer walked on the court, causing the referee to give his opponent, Benjamin Bonzi, another first serve. The video of the incident shows him rushing over to the referee's chair to yell at him.
“Are you a man? Are you a man? Why are you shaking?” Medvedev shouted, according to video of his antics. He also shouted, “He wants to go home, guys, he doesn’t like it here. He gets paid by the match, not by the hour.”
The announcer said, "He's completely lost control of his emotions here," as the crowd booed and laughed.
Fans had fun with the tennis pro's behavior on X.
"Does he know he plays tennis? It's not that serious, bro," wrote one.
According to the ATP Tour, Medvedev is ranked 13th in the world, although he once enjoyed the top ranking in men's tennis and has earned more than $46 million in prize money. He is 29 years old and is from Moscow.
"I never experienced something like that," Bonzi said later. "I don't know, [we waited maybe] five minutes before the next point. It was so difficult to play. It was so noisy ... I tried to stay calm, to stay in the match, but it was not easy."
"Make him play with that racket..," opined another person.
Medvedev lost the first-round match to Bonzi of France, 6-3 7-5 6-7(5) 0-6 6-4.
At one point, Bonzi tired of Medvedev's antics and asked for him to be disqualified.
