World No.6 ranked Andrey Rublev is known for his fiery temper on the court, however, an outburst in his first round loss to a player who had never won a match in the main draw sparked concern.
Tommy Paul’s girlfriend, Paige Lorenze, has caused much heated reaction online for the manner in which she interacted with the tennis star during his trophy presentation at the Queen’s Club championship in London.
‘To Di For’ podcast host Kinsey Schofield said people are angry because it seems like Ms Lorenze was trying to “steal the spotlight”.
“Very possessive … like let him have his time, he’s done all the work, you’re just showing up and looking glossy,” Ms Schofield told Sky News host Rita Panahi.
World No.6 Andrey Rublev was opening his campaign at the third major of the year against Argentinian Francisco Comesana, who sits 122nd, on Tuesday in London.
Comesana took the opening set of the match 6-4 to the surprise of fans on Court 2, before the Russian was able to bounce back in the second winning 7-5.
However, during the third set, Rublev was down 1-3 and was one point away from losing another game when he made a backhand error, gifting his opponent another break.
Fans and commentators have raised concerns about Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev following an explosive outburst at Wimbledon. Picture: Francois Nel/Getty Images
The 26-year-old repeatedly hit himself after losing a crucial point in the third set. Picture: X
The 26-year-old responded in anger by hitting his racquet against his knee seven times while glancing and shouting towards his team in the coaches box.
Blood could be seen on his knee from the self-inflicted injury.
Rublev failed to hit back, eventually losing the third and fourth set 2-6, 6(5)-7.
While he is known for his fiery temper on the court, fans and commentators expressed concern at how harshly he punished himself for losing the point.
“I feel bad when players are under so much stress and end up hitting themselves like this. How is Andrey Rublev’s team helping him overcome moments like that?” one tennis enthusiast wrote to Twitter with a video of the moment.
Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg added: “Rublev can’t be doing this, if for no other reason that it’s disturbing for fans to watch.”
Commentator Bull Cooney suggested the Russian see a sports psychologist.
“This happens far too often, and it is pretty excessive,” he said.
Rublev had a similar outburst during the French Open, which he was knocked out of in the third round, just weeks earlier.
The world No.6 was asked about his anger on the court, with the reporter saying fans “are quite worried about you” after seeing what happened in the Wimbledon loss.
“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,” they asked.
In a post match press conference, Rublev said he had to “let emotions out” before attempting to reassure fans by declaring “everything is fine”. Picture: Francois Nel/Getty Images
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Rublev argued he would not hit himself but hinted he did not want to risk a code violation and could lead to a point penalty in the most serious cases.
“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,” he said.
Asked if he would watch back videos of the incident, the 26-year-old claimed he did not look at the clips online before trying to reassure fans.
“In general it’s about trying to improve yourself. It’s a process and it takes time,” Rublev said.
Elsewhere, the Aussies had a mixed result in the first round of Wimbledon with Alex de Minaur, Jordan Thompson, Alexei Popyrin, Aleksandar Vukic and Adam Walton who was on debut, all winning their first round matches.
In the women’s draw, Daria Saville is the only Australian woman left.