‘Disturbing’ sight rocks Wimbledon on wild day of drama
The tennis world has been left calling for a star player to retire after a scary sight unfolded on a crazy day at Wimbledon.
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There have been calls for Russian tennis star Andrey Rublev to retire at the age of 26 after an ugly meltdown at Wimbledon on Wednesday morning.
The world No. 6 has fans fearing for his wellbeing after he imploded against Francisco Comesana.
Rublev’s meltdown came on a wild day at the All England Club with Aussie Alex de Minaur winning through to the second round and defending ladies champion Marketa Vondrousova being knocked out in straight sets.
The most dramatic moment of the day came on Court 2 where Rublev left spectators concerned with yet another violent outburst.
His Argentine opponent wrapped up the match 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) with Rublev’s ugly act of smashing his racquet repeatedly against his knee unfolding in the third set.
You can watch the incident in the video player above.
Rublev, who reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals last year, struggled for consistency on his serve and was broken four times in the match by his opponent, ranked 122nd in the world.
He was the highest seeded player in the men’s singled to be eliminated in the first two days of the tournament.
Rublev has let his anger get the better of him repeatedly in recent years — and his latest outburst has prompted calls for change.
Because his outburst did not involve racquet throwing, he did not receive a code violation for the ugly act.
Leading tennis journalist Jose Morgado wrote on Twitter: “Just horrendous to watch this constantly happen. Especially because Andrey is a good guy”.
American tennis commentator Ricky Dimon wrote: “This HAS to be the end for Rublev.
“The worst loss of his career by a billion miles, which is saying a lot given how many bad losses he’s had. An unforgivable result.”
Comesana had never won a match in the main draw of an ATP Tour event going into Wimbledon. He had lost all three of his previous matches in straight sets.
Most commentators were more worried about Rublev’s mental state.
Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg wrote: “This needs to be a code violation, even under the general unsportsmanlike conduct umbrella.
“Rublev can’t be doing this, if for no other reason that it’s disturbing for fans to watch.”
Tennis commentator Bull Cooney wrote: “I think Rublev needs to see a sports psychologist. This happens far too often, and it’s pretty excessive”.
Rublev was asked about the incident in his post-match press conference and said he simply “couldn’t take it any more” before he turned the racquet on himself.
One journalist asked Rublev: “Fans online, after you hit yourself with a racquet 7 times, are quite worried about you. I know you’re saying it wasn’t as bad as Paris, but fans are quite worried. Is it something that’s on your mind? What people are seeing? They’re increasingly worried..”
He responded: “I wouldn’t do it if I was able to hit the racquet on the floor.
“Because we’re not allowed to hit it on the grass... so I don’t know... at that moment I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed to let emotions out. But thanks. Everything is fine.”
Rublev also made international headlines for another outburst at Roland Garros.
During that match he was described by a live TV commentator as a “tortured soul”.
The TV coverage had to pan away from Rublev because of how ugly his meltdown was
“I find it uncomfortable to watch at times," the English commentator said.
“I don’t want to equate it to self harm because that is a serious thing, but there’s almost an element of that.
“It’s just so painful to watch.”
De Minaur wins way out on Court 12
Alex de Minaur is through to the second round after surviving a few scary moments against Aussie veteran James Duckworth.
The No. 9 seed prevailed 7-6 (1) 7-6 (3 7-6 (4).
“It definitely wasn’t easy by any means,” the 25-year-old said.
“It’s never easy playing a fellow Aussie. Playing Ducks, who is a great grass-court player, and starting your Wimbledon campaign is not easy, but I’m happy to be through.”
De Minaur rushed from his match to watch girlfriend Katie Boulter win her opening match.
The English star won 7-6(6) 7-5 against Wimbledon 2022 semi-finalist Tatjana Maria.
“I definitely would have rather she won one and one, I’ll tell you that. That way I probably could have relaxed,” he smiled.
“I guess it was a good day at the household. I never knew we were so good at playing tiebreaks.”
De Minaur next faces Spaniard Jaume Munar in the second round.
Defending champ knocked out in an hour
Marketa Vondrousova became the first defending women’s Wimbledon champion to lose in the first round for 30 years on Wednesday morning.
It was a painful day for the Czech sixth seed Vondrousova, whose time in the Wimbledon spotlight was cut short as she went down 6-4, 6-2 to Spain’s unheralded Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in 66 minutes.
Vondrousova is only the second defending champion to lose in the first round at the All England Club in the Open Era.
The only other time it has happened was 30 years ago, when Lori McNeil defeated three-time defending champion Steffi Graf.
World number 83 Bouzas Maneiro, playing in only the third Grand Slam main draw of her career, broke her opponent five times in the match under the roof on Centre Court.
Vondrousova, who said she was wary in her first match since she hurt her hip at last month’s Berlin grass-court tournament, struggled with her serve and racked up 28 unforced errors.
“Practice was fine and everything,” said the Czech.
“Today I was a bit scared because of my leg too. But I don’t think that was the reason. I felt nervous from the start.”
She added: “It’s tough to go out defending the title.” It was a different story for women’s world number one and five-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek, who beat former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 6-3, 6-4 with a minimum of fuss.
Elena Rybakina, the 2022 champion, cantered past Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3, 6-1 while fifth seed Jessica Pegula lost just two games against US compatriot Ashlyn Krueger in a 6-2, 6-0 demolition job.
Andy Murray officially ends singles career
Two-time champion Andy Murray called time on his Wimbledon singles career after the “extremely disappointed” former world number one lost his battle to recover from back surgery.
However, the 37-year-old, who plans to retire after the Paris Olympics, will still experience an emotional farewell at the All England Club when he plays doubles with brother Jamie later in the tournament.
Murray underwent surgery to remove a cyst from his back last month, a procedure he described as “not insignificant”.
The operation left him without full feeling in his right leg and placed in peril his final appearance at the tournament.
Murray said he was not ready to face Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic in his scheduled first-round clash on Centre Court on Tuesday.
“I decided this morning. I slept on it, I told my team and my family that I didn’t think I was going to play just based on how I felt yesterday,” said Murray after a training session alongside his brother.
He added: “I’m disappointed. I wanted to play in the tournament. I wanted to have a chance to go out there and walk out on my own on the Centre Court again and give it another go.
“But I also was only going to do that if I felt like I could be competitive and I didn’t feel like that today.”
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