Andrey Rublev went nuclear in volatile French Open meltdown

Russian world number 6 Andrey Rublev lost his mind as he unleashed in volatile scenes during his third round encounter.

Petulant Andrey Rublev suffered a meltdown on court at the French Open as he kicked his chair in anger, smashed racquet and blew up at his own box.

The Russian, 26, is not one to hide his emotions and he was in full madcap mode as he became the first male top-10 player to be booted out of the grand slam, The Sun reports.

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Unseeded Italian Matteo Arnaldi succeeded 7-6 6-2 6-4 in the third round on Court Suzanne-Lenglen in his fifth-ever singles appearance at Roland Garros.

After disputing a line call in the second set, furious Rublev smacked his racquet on the ground and then he booted his bench repeatedly.

The crowd were cheering every time he did it in ironic fashion.

In the third set, the No.6 seed smacked his equipment against his knee and his body language grew worse and worse, more and more negative as the end drew closer.

The Moscow Man – who has never been beyond the quarter-finals of a slam in 26 attempts – also spat on court as his surprise opponent enjoyed the finest moment of his career.

Racquet smash. (Photo by Bertrand GUAY / AFP)

“It’s incredible. I played the best tennis for sure of my life,” Arnaldi, 23, said.

“It’s easy to do it in a normal tournament but to do it in a Slam is amazing.

“I wasn’t expecting this. I continued to play like this. He didn’t play his best tennis. I put him under pressure. Today it worked very well.”

Rublev was quick to condemn his on court outbursts as he spoke to reporters after being knocked out of the tournament.

“(I am) completely disappointed with myself the way I behaved, the way I performed, and I don’t remember behaving worse on a slams ever. I think it was first time I ever behaved that bad,” he said.

Rublev was slapping himself. (Photo by Bertrand GUAY / AFP)

And losing it at his own box. (Photo by Bertrand GUAY / AFP)

“I feel it’s tough to be, in some moments, tough to be kind to myself. Of course, if I was able (to manage my emotions better), I’m sure that those moments will never happen.

“It’s not about concentration, it’s because the way I behave I put myself completely down, and I give Matteo wings to fly, and he was flying in the third set. It was too late to do something.”

It’s not the first time Rublev’s volatile antics have been on display with the Russian blowing up during the Dubai Open when he was disqualified after screaming at a line judge.

The win for Arnaldi advances him into the last 16 where he’ll take on either Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas or China’s Zhang Zhizhen.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission.

Originally published as Andrey Rublev went nuclear in volatile French Open meltdown