Tennis player's violent reaction to loss sparks debate about sexism in the sport

A male tennis player’s violent reaction that saw him smash multiple racquets on court has divided opinion online.

The incident occurred when player Alexander Bublik’s temper bubbled over during a match in the Open Sud de France tournament this week.

In a clip that has been widely shared online, the Kazakhstani player ranked 50th in the world could be seen smashing his racquet onto the court multiple times, breaking the frame as fans began to boo.

A female commentator could then, rather prematurely, be heard saying: “The good news is he’s got plenty of other racquets.”

Just at that moment, Bublik walked over to his bags and proceeded to grab one of his brand-new racquets and smash it up, before doing the same to another.

Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

A male commentator then said, “Well this is getting out of hand now” while the co-commentator added: “I think that gives us a little indication of where his mindset is at right now.”

The clip has sparked the debate around sexism, with many pointing out that women are often heavily criticised as being “too emotional” when they display similar behaviour.

On Twitter, the clip was shared along with the captions: “When they say ‘women are too emotional to lead’.”

Someone commented: “So will he loose a game or get fines like they do to Serena?”

Another said: “The commentary is fun but my first thought was if one of the Williams sisters did even a smidgen of this there would be a million very thinly veiled racist & misogynistic articles bemoaning their behavior.”

Others also found the commentator’s remarks and timing absolutely hilarious.

Another argued: “the english accent was invented for this moment.”

Bublik, the defending champion, was knocked out of the tournament in his match against Gregoire Barrere.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.