Mirra Andreeva was left in tears and hurled her racquet after crashing out in an incident packed match at Wimbledon.
The French Open champion was fuming after losing 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 to two-time grand-slam winner Barbora Krejcikova on centre court.
Mira Andreeva cried during her press conference. Wimbledon
Things went down hill abruptly for the Russian after winning the first set.
She often complained to the umpire about Krejcikova’s conduct, urging for a hindrance call after her opponent underwent treatment in the dressing room during a second-set medical time-out.
After losing the second frame, Andreeva appeared to shout towards her team, saying: “I don’t need it, I don’t want to hear it.”
In the final set, she called for a point to be replayed after ripping her bracelet, scattering beads behind the baseline.
Ball kids had to help collect the beads before play resumed.
Then she looked dumbfounded when the crowd cheered after she sent a backhand long at the same time Harry Kane scored the winning goal for England against Democratic Republic of Congo at the World Cup.
It came to a head when she lost match point, launching her racquet towards her chair.
“If that was a wooden box, it would’ve been smashed to smithereens – but it was smashed into her racquet bag,” Annabel Croft of the BBC said.
“She is absolutely seething as she grabs her towel. It is almost like she couldn’t walk any quicker off this court right now.”
As she left the court, Andreeva told her team “I quit.”
Andreeva later broke down in tears during her press conference, saying: “Sorry. Yeah, it’s going to take some time, maybe a couple of days, and then I’m going to be back to practice for hard courts.
“I don’t know what my next tournaments are going to be. I still need to talk to my team to see where I’m going to play next.
“She [Krejcikova] played well today. She’s a tricky opponent, especially to play against on grass. She changes the rhythm a lot.
Andreeva launches her racquet after giving up match point. Nine
“The slices and drop shots, here they stay low, they don’t bounce. I’ve had some trouble with that as well.
“A lot of mistakes today, also. Yeah, she played well, but I felt like I could have also played better. That’s it.”