‘Tennis tantrum of the year’: Watch Spanish player launch into epic racket-smashing meltdown (VIDEO)
Spanish tennis player Mario Vilella Martinez has been ridiculed on social media for his insane racket-smashing meltdown, which was sarcastically dubbed ‘tennis tantrum of the year’, at an ATP Challenger event in Kazakhstan.
The world number 262 attracted much public attention after a video of him destroying his tennis racket during the match went viral, with many sports fans admitting this was one of the craziest racket smashes they had ever seen.
The Spaniard exploded after suffering a three set defeat (1-6, 6-2, 7-5) to Bosnia's Tomislav Brkic at the Shymkent II Challenger event on Monday.
Vilella Martinez 🙈(info - @hotdog6969 ) (🎥@ATPChallenger ) pic.twitter.com/ebbpYYr09G
— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) June 10, 2019
lol best racket smash of the week already...please gif Vilella Martinez @doublefault28
— jimmy soixante-dix (@hotdog6969) June 10, 2019
"Is he cultivating the clay ground for vegetable planting?" one user asked.
Is he cultivating the clay ground for vegetable planting ? 😩
— 禮 (@Vestige_du_jour) June 10, 2019
"Did he kill a fly?" another person added.
Did he kill the fly ?
— bravo43 (@CorelisMandarin) June 10, 2019
Infuriated by his loss, Martinez launched into a huge tantrum, bashing his racket into the clay five times before hurling it out of the court.
The player's behavior didn’t go unnoticed by tennis fans, who immediately started ridiculing the Spaniard’s hysterical outburst making comparisons with the notoriously hot-tempered Australian ace, Nick Kyrgios.
#GAM Mario Vilella Martinez for one of the best ever tennis spoilt brat meltdowns of all time. Who do you think you are, Nick Kyrgios?
— Hills Bulldog (@lynscarer) June 11, 2019
— Dyoniss (@Dyomachine1) June 10, 2019
Australian sports journalist and media personality Tim Watson joked that the player’s eccentric racket-waving resembled a tough fight against bull ants.
"I wasn’t sure it was a tantrum, I thought he was in a nest of bull ants," he tweeted.
“I wasn’t sure it was a tantrum, I thought he was in a nest of bull ants” - @Peter_Mitchell7 and @timwatson32 takes a look at Mario Vilella Martínez's dummy spit after a losing a challenger event in Kazakhstan. #7NEWSpic.twitter.com/AjyB2HMYGU
— 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) June 11, 2019
While the fans are enjoying laughing at Martinez's expense, it has not yet been confirmed what sanctions the player will face for his on-court behavior.