The Kazakh Alexander Bublik was obviously not happy to find himself with six match points against him on Wednesday in the first round in Montpellier where he was the defending champion. So that the 50e world has decided to charge for his racquet… or rather, his racquets.
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On the change of ends in the third set tiebreaker, when trailing 6-0 by Frenchman Grégoire Barrère, 75eBublik first screwed up the racket that had just cost him a crucial point.
Then, the 25-year-old went to pick up two more in his bag, to destroy them in turn. All in… 25 seconds.
This outburst of frustration seemed to momentarily release the Kazakh, who won all three points often. But it wasn’t enough to turn things around: Bublik still had to pack up.
Baggage which, relieved of a few snowshoes, will at the very least be lighter to carry…
