Medvedev smashes racket seven times in loss to Berrettini

Former No. 1 Daniil Medvedev lost his temper, smashed his racket on the red clay court seven successive times, and then deposited the mangled frame in a trash bin midway through a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Matteo Berrettini at the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday.

Alexander Zverev dug deep to beat Cristian Garin.

Medevdev completely unravelled against Berrettini after missing two break points in the opening game, making 30 unforced errors and serving five double faults.

Medvedev did not win more than two points in any of the last 11 games and his frustrations boiled over in the second set, smashing his racquet into the court.

Berrettini wrapped up the double-bagel victory, the first such defeat of former world number one Medvedev’s career, in just 49 minutes.

“I think it was one of the best performances of my life,” Berrettini said.

Russia's Daniil Medvedev smashes his racket on the clay as he plays against Italy's Matteo Berrettini. AFP

“I think I missed three shots in the entire match and it is not easy against a tricky player like Daniil. I think the game plan was perfect and my weapons were working.”

The former Wimbledon runner-up, now ranked 90th, will face Joao Fonseca in the last 16 after the Brazilian teenager beat Arthur Rinderknech 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.

World number three Zverev, who is hoping to complete the set of all three clay-court Masters 1000 titles this week, staged a late comeback to edge out Chilean qualifier Garin 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Zverev has reached the semi-finals at each of the Australian Open, Indian Wells and the Miami Open this year but was in danger of a shock exit after losing the first set and then trailing 4-0 in the third.

Garin also served for the match when 5-3 ahead in the deciding set, but Zverev broke and then sealed victory by reeling off five consecutive games.

He had to stave off three break points in a nervy 12th game to avoid a tie-break, but eventually got the job done on his third match point.

This photograph shows Russia's Daniil Medvedev's smashed racket. AFP

“My level was not there at all to be honest,” Zverev said after taking two hours and 50 minutes to get over the line.

“But it was my first clay-court match in 11 months. I didn’t have much time to prepare as I played well in Miami.

“I am happy to get the win. It was a tough match and he is someone playing well, especially here.”

The 28-year-old will face unseeded Belgian Zizou Bergs, who downed 2023 champion Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-1, in round three.

Zverev has not won an ATP title since Munich 12 months ago, while the last of his seven Masters triumphs came in Paris in 2024.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Katie Boulter suffered a first-round defeat by Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz Open.

The 29-year-old went down 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2) on clay to world number 87 Ruse, who will now face Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska or American Ann Li in the last 16.

Boulter lost her first two service games in the opening set but twice broke before she was edged out in a tie-break.

The British number three broke Ruse’s serve for a third time to take an early advantage in the second set but her opponent immediately responded in a see-saw encounter.

Agencies