Alexander Bublik cut his hand open after lashing out when he lost a close opening set at the Shanghai Masters. The No. 19 seed is up against 16th seed Brandon Nakashima in the third round, where he blew two set points to lose the opener 7-6(7) in a tiebreak.
Racket destroyed in frustration
Bublik immediately slammed his racket to the ground five times, destroying it. He headed back to his bench for the changeover, kicking it before sitting down. And to top it off, he whacked the top of a drinks cooler with his hand, injuring himself.
There had been nothing separating the two men throughout the first set, and they went to a tiebreak. The Kazakh was the first to get a mini-break, and had two set points at 6-4, one coming on his own serve. But he couldn't convert them, and dropped five of the next six points to lose the hour-long set.
Commentator reacts
Bublik had already been venting to his team after missing those set points, and when Nakashima ripped a winner to claim the set, the 19th seed smashed his racket repeatedly. "He's going to need to find a way to calm down quickly," commentator Nick Lester said. "That's not pretty."
The injury forced Bublik to call for the physio during the match.
