Zverev smashes his racquets into each other in changeover drama

Alexander Zverev was not playing badly in the showpiece final in Melbourne on Rod Laver Arena, and yet the German found himself two sets down to the world No. 1 Jannik Sinner with two hours on the clock.

Zverev sat in his chair, before hitting his racquet into another one that was resting on a bag with a third racquet also involved in the drama. Clearly, that seemed a good move as he repeated the action a few more times for good measure.

“Not a good moment to be a tennis racquet, or not one belonging to Alexander Zverev,” noted Eurosport’s Nick Mullins on commentary.

“Most definitely, when you reflect on that tie-break, 4-4, the inside-out forehand for Sinner clips the top of the net and just goes over, they say you make your own luck,” added Tim Henman about the end of that breaker that just got away from Zverev.

“You could see the frustration with Zverev at the end of that second set.

“It’s a tough task now with Sinner up two sets to love and in the driving seat.”

This was not the first time Zverev has taken some emotion out on his racquets, the most famous occurrence being in the Mexican Open in 2022, when he hit the umpire’s chair and received a suspended ban from the ATP as a result, later calling it “the worst moment of my life”.

There have already been plenty of emotions on show in this year’s Australian Open, the most memorable of which involved Daniil Medvedev, who caused plenty of damage to the in-net camera for starters, before picking up some hefty fines from the organisers.

Danielle Collins was another to show her emotions on court, although that took the form of some interesting post-match comments as she took umbrage with the crowd rather than her own play.

As for Zverev, he still had plenty of racquets left with which to compete, as he set about trying to claw his way back into the Australian Open final.