ANGREY RUBLEV
Shock moment tennis star Andrey Rublev busts his own knee open with furious on-court meltdown
Incident is latest in catalogue of 'ugly emotional outbursts' from Russian
TENNIS star Andrey Rublev bust open his own knee in his latest furious on-court meltdown.
The Russian ace, 27, was in action at the Paris Masters on Tuesday.
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However, during his 7-6 7-6 defeat to Francisco Cerundolo, the No6 seed erupted with rage.
Rublev - who underwent emergency surgery this year to save his testicle being amputated - led 5-2 in the first set before losing it on the tie-break - and did the same despite going 4-2 up in the second.
And his anger boiled over at several flashpoints throughout the defeat.
After missing a crucial forehand at 5-3 in the first, Rublev let out an explosive cry of "shut up" towards the crowd sat behind him at the Bercy Arena.
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But it was early in the second set that things took a far more serious twist.
Another forehand into the net prompted Rublev to whack his left knee with his own tennis racquet seven times.
And the impact was so severe that the 16-time ATP tournament winner actually drew blood from himself.
Rublev also launched a water bottle at the ground later on.
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This was the latest episode in the world No7's career of shocking outbursts.
Last November, Rublev also drew blood from his leg at the ATP Finals after whacking himself repeatedly.
'I don't remember behaving worse,' says petulant tennis star Andrey Rublev after epic meltdown during French Open exit
In March, he was disqualified from the Dubai Open after screaming at a line judge and then went on an extraordinary tirade at the French Open - including spitting on the clay and booting his chair.
At Wimbledon, meanwhile, he again cut his knee open by bashing it with his racquet.
Off the court, the Russian is considered one of the friendliest tennis players on tour.
But he has openly talked about his depression and mental health struggles as well as admitting he sometimes cannot keep his "ugly emotional outbursts" in check in the heat of battle.
And the disturbing scenes in Paris - which could see Rublev miss out on a spot at the ATP Finals in Turin - left plenty of fans worried about his wellbeing.
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One said: "Can somebody get Rublev some mental help? A mental coach? Therapy? Something? This is getting out of hand.";
Another wrote: "Seriously sad to watch at this point for Rublev."
A third added: "He's legit self-harming in front of us, and nobody is doing anything to help him. This is not normal. He needs help."
And esteemed tennis writer Jon Wertheim commented: "This is gone from tennis meme to source of serious concern….
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"This obviously goes deep and begs for sports psychology.
"But if the @atptour code of conduct treated this as harm/abuse - and not self-harm/abuse - maybe there's at least some scoreboard deterrent?"
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