Rublev bloodies himself with his racket in frustration during loss to Alcaraz at ATP Finals
Andrey Rublev grew so frustrated during a 7-5, 6-2 loss to Carlos Alcaraz at the ATP Finals that he repeatedly hit himself with his racket so hard that he bloodied his left knee
TURIN, Italy (AP) — Andrey Rublev grew so frustrated during a 7-5, 6-2 loss to Carlos Alcaraz at the ATP Finals on Wednesday that he repeatedly hit himself with his racket — so hard that he bloodied his left knee.
Rublev had already slammed his racket to the ground during the opening game of the second set. Then when the Russian missed a shot to hand Alcaraz a break, he started beating himself as he walked to his chair and then used a towel to wipe the blood off.
Blood continued to trickle down Rublev's leg as he played on.
The second-ranked Alcaraz, a 20-year-old Spaniard who is already a two-time Grand Slam champion, ended an uncharacteristic three-match losing streak following defeats to Grigor Dimitrov in Shanghai, Roman Safiullin in Paris and Alexander Zverev in his debut match in Turin.
