Paris: As the French Open gets under way, the tennis season is once again highlighting one of the sport’s defining features: the intense mental pressure that can lead players to lose their composure on court.Recent weeks have seen Daniil Medvedev and Daniel Altmaier produce notable racket-smashing outbursts during clay-court tournaments in Europe, echoing incidents that have long been part of the sport’s history.Former top-five player Andrey Rublev, known for his own displays of frustration, said such reactions extend beyond tennis.“It’s not about tennis,” Rublev said. “All people have this situation in life and you just lose it. It doesn’t have to be tennis. It’s just that in tennis you are alone and people are watching you. Some people handle it better; others let those emotions take over.”Medvedev, a former world number one, smashed his racket repeatedly during a heavy 6-0, 6-0 defeat to Matteo Berrettini at the Monte Carlo Masters, before discarding it in a courtside bin.“When I broke the racket, I kind of didn’t want to,” Medvedev said. “I was like, ‘You know, it’s 6-0, 6-0. I cannot win one point.’ Maybe sometimes this can give you a boost. And it didn’t.”Altmaier similarly drew attention after striking his racket on the clay and kicking it into the stands during a match in Hamburg, though no spectators were injured.Such incidents are not new. John McEnroe became famous for his on-court outbursts, while even Roger Federer was known for racket-smashing earlier in his career before developing a calmer demeanour.Other notable moments include Serena Williams’ outburst at the 2009 US Open and Novak Djokovic’s disqualification from the 2020 tournament after accidentally striking a line judge with a ball.Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka acknowledged that emotional reactions can negatively affect performance. “My emotions were destroying my game and my level was dropping dramatically,” she said, adding that learning to control them has been key to her improvement.Some players prefer to manage their frustrations away from the court. Jessica Pegula said she avoids public displays, while Naomi Osaka noted she releases her anger quietly to avoid penalties.Sorana Cirstea said the pressure of the sport makes such reactions understandable.“It’s such a mental sport,” she said. “To sustain that mentality for three long hours with all the adrenaline and the pressure, sometimes you don’t handle it the best. We are human.”
