Marcos Baghdatis Smashes Four Tennis Rackets in a Row [Video]
Marcos Baghdatis had a smashing time at the Australian Open on Wednesday night. The Cypriot player pulverised four of his rackets in quick succession after going down by two sets to Swiss journeyman Stanislas Warinka in his second round match.
While sitting in his chair during a changeover, Baghdatis was suddenly overcome with rage. From nowhere, he promptly demolished the racket he had been using, smashing it into the court seven times and handing the shattered remains to a ball boy. He then reached into his bag, produced a second racket, and broke that in a couple of swings.
A third and fourth racket quickly followed, and weren’t even removed from their plastic wrapping. As each racket hit the ground, the crowd cheered rowdily. Four rackets had met their end in under sixty seconds.
Nevertheless, it seemed to cheer Baghdatis up. He smiled as the umpire gave him a warning for racket abuse, and then won the next set. Alas, it wasn’t to last – Wawrinka cruised through the fourth set to win 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 5-7 6-1.
The next morning, Baghdatis was fined $800 for his eruption – not bad value for a highly entertaining tantrum. Bravo, Marcos.
He also attracted the attention of Aussie Open women’s champion Serena Williams, who later told press, “I’ve never done that. That’s impressive, wow.” Here’s Baghdatis in all his racket-destroying glory:
