When pros SMASH racquets

ichaseballs

Hall of Fame
thought this would be fun :cool:
i don't think nadal ever smashed/broke a racquet... can someone confirm?
stan wawrinka snaps them in half, never smashes it, just calmly snaps them like twigs.
and i will refrain from posting the Youzhny head smashing.

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Novak-Djokovic-loses-his-cool-at-the-Australian-Open..jpg


Murray-Racquet-Smash.jpg


25serena-williams.jpg
 
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HitMoreBHs

Professional
I wish they would walk over and hand the racquet to a kid in the stands. They get rid of the demon stick and a kid is happy.

Probably won’t provide the same in-the-moment catharsis, but will be immortalised in a YooToobe highlight reel sometime!
 

ichaseballs

Hall of Fame
i was watching this live. he had already received a warning or two. so decides to take 2 racquets to a bathroom break? where there was no chair... he still got fined
 

ichaseballs

Hall of Fame
They should be disqualified/points taken off - both unsportsmanlike and gives bad example to the younger generation.

they are penalized. and plenty of old players back in the day smashed racquets too...
also smashing racquets is not the bad example i worry about. we have far bigger issues
 

esm

Legend
they are penalized. and plenty of old players back in the day smashed racquets too...
also smashing racquets is not the bad example i worry about. we have far bigger issues
Penalised with a code warning or money - that’s Micky mouse to the professional players. You need to get them where it “hurts”.....
Also, what far bigger issues? Genuine question....
 

ichaseballs

Hall of Fame
Penalised with a code warning or money - that’s Micky mouse to the professional players. You need to get them where it “hurts”.....
Also, what far bigger issues? Genuine question....

more so in society i meant... for the younger generation
but in tennis specifically currently... domestic abuse (perhaps there is a correlation with smashing racquets), doping, cheating/fixing. low pay for most, wta/atp division as well as a new players union
 
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esm

Legend
more so in society i meant.
but in tennis specifically... currently domestic abuse (perhaps there is a correlation with smashing racquets), doping, cheating/fixing. low pay for most, wta/atp division as well as a new players union
Yea I agree, but most would treat these two as separate issues. One is how players dealing with themselves (off court) and one is how players acting as role models to the sport they are presenting (on court/tv telecast) Breaking/abuse/smash racquets relates to the latter issue imo.
Both important, but at different levels.
 

TagUrIt

Hall of Fame
It’s very disappointing when I see pros smashing racquets. It means that they’ve completely lost control to do something so irrational. It shows a lack of respect for the sport, the amount of work it out put into creating the racquet and even stringing it. I don’t think anyone pro, college, junior or club players should EVER smash a tennis racquet. Grow up and deal with your emotions in a more healthy and constructive way!
 

d-quik

Hall of Fame
**********.net/rafael-nadal-has-never-broken-a-racket-uncle-toni-explains-source-of-spaniards-supreme-discipline/amp/
 

HitMoreBHs

Professional
..., wta/atp division

This should happen once and for all so that we can stop the whingeing over equal pay. When the WTA can command the same media and ticket sales revenue as the ATP, then we can start insisting on equal pay. It’s not a gender issue. It’s simple economics of supply and demand.
 

Antónis

Professional
I've seen a few live racquet cracks myself, it always breaks my heart when they do it (I always think "give it to me instead of break it"...)

The most outrageous I've seen was a guy called Irakli Labadze breaking iPrestiges Mid with his foot while sitting down. He broke like 2 or 3 in a row, just like that.
 

am1899

Legend
From where I’m sitting, the pros are under entirely different and significantly more pressure that any recreational, junior, or college player will ever face or understand. If a pro wants to smash a racquet to get their head right, I don’t have a problem with it (unless they do a poor job breaking it, lol).

Recreational players for me are fine too. In most cases they will have paid for their own racquet. So what they decide to do with it is their business, IMO.

Where I do have a problem with it is juniors and collegiate players. IME, in most cases these players will not have paid for their own racquets - either parents pay, or they are sponsored (or both).

I do see the other side - that one group doing it sets a bad example for others. I just don’t really think it’s apples to apples, one group to another.
 
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McLovin

Legend
From where I’m sitting, the pros are under entirely different and significantly more pressure that any recreational, junior, or college player will ever face or understand. If a pro wants to smash a racquet to get their head right, I don’t have a problem with it (unless they do a poor job breaking it, lol).
Agreed. I’d rather they smash a racquet and get on with the match than pull a Paire or Tomic and just tank. At least the racquet smashers care.
 

esm

Legend
They are. Point penalty, code violations, and if they do it three times it’s game penalty.
I meant ATP/WTA/ITF (ranking) points. I think 3 times warning during a match is too much - it’s not like a racquet can stand an abuse/smash/breakage 3 times and i think it isn’t right to expose these dissgusting actions to the kids/younger generations 3 times in a match either. Lol
 

canta_Brian

Hall of Fame
more so in society i meant... for the younger generation
but in tennis specifically currently... domestic abuse (perhaps there is a correlation with smashing racquets), doping, cheating/fixing. low pay for most, wta/atp division as well as a new players union
Add faking injuries to that list
 

Pass750

Professional
They should be disqualified/points taken off - both unsportsmanlike and gives bad example to the younger generation.
When a player smashes a racquet they should be forced to play the remainder of that game with broken racquet or next game if in between.
 
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Harry_Wild

G.O.A.T.
If a player is sponsored with stencil on the strings, the ITF should fine the player 1/5 of annual racquet endorsement. $100K, get $20K fine each time the player breaks a racquet. Many times players break like 2-3 at a time too! Ouch$$$$$$$$! It can get into negative so if the player takes out his 10 racquets and breaks them on court, $200,000 fine!
 

CosmosMpower

Hall of Fame
It’s very disappointing when I see pros smashing racquets. It means that they’ve completely lost control to do something so irrational. It shows a lack of respect for the sport, the amount of work it out put into creating the racquet and even stringing it. I don’t think anyone pro, college, junior or club players should EVER smash a tennis racquet. Grow up and deal with your emotions in a more healthy and constructive way!

meh it’s a way to vent frustration tennis pros are still people.
 

Harry_Wild

G.O.A.T.
meh it’s a way to vent frustration tennis pros are still people.
I like the way an ex Russian tour player did it by using his racquet and hitting himself with it! Photo of him doing it on his head and blood coming down his face. Frustration is completely gone with this technique! Need to call medical time out and his opponent was impress by it too!
 
I once saw someone using a eastern FH grip to smash a racket and they ended up tweaking their wrist . What an amateur. Everyone knows ya gotta use a conti grip and get it right at 10 o clock or 2 o’clock for a nice clean break all the way thru .
But it’s the ones who get a nice deep knee bend and catch it right at 3 or 9 o clock that is super impressive
 

Purestriker

Legend
At the last Roland Garros they mentioned Nadal has never broken a racket in his career. I have also read Yonex charges their sponsored players for breaking them.
 

Purestriker

Legend
I also thought it was funny watching Fognini punching his string bead after points. He had blood all over the place. Ended up wining in five and being wrapped up in bandages.
 

Jason Swerve

Hall of Fame
I also thought it was funny watching Fognini punching his string bead after points. He had blood all over the place. Ended up wining in five and being wrapped up in bandages.
It's just another form of new-age gamesmanship. These players are going to start cutting themselves at changeovers and claiming it's "stress relief".
 
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