Who was the first racquet smasher?

galain

galain

Hall of Fame
I saw a pic of Kyrgios holding a smashed stick today after losing to Zverev in his Davis Cup match, and started wondering who the first person I recall smashing a racquet in anger/frustration was.

I'm so old I honestly can't. I would have named Johnny Mac but the closest I can recall was him getting defaulted out the of the Australian Open, and I'm not too sure he meant to destroy his racquet then. He even claimed it was still playable.

Any suggestions?
 
Mainad

Mainad

Bionic Poster
galain said:
I saw a pic of Kyrgios holding a smashed stick today after losing to Zverev in his Davis Cup match, and started wondering who the first person I recall smashing a racquet in anger/frustration was.

I'm so old I honestly can't. I would have named Johnny Mac but the closest I can recall was him getting defaulted out the of the Australian Open, and I'm not too sure he meant to destroy his racquet then. He even claimed it was still playable.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Possibly Ilie Nastase?
 
galain

galain

Hall of Fame
Well played! I should have been more specific in my original post.

"......in the open era...."

It's hardly abnormal these days to see someone crack a racquet, but I'm having trouble deciding if there's one player who more or less started the behaviour (in the open era).
 
Firstservingman

Firstservingman

Talk Tennis Guru
Mainad said:
Probably Louis X of France.

Harry Gem and Augurio Perera are credited as the first players of lawn tennis.

Walter Clopton Wingfield originated the rules for the modern game.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis
Click to expand...
Peak Henry vs. Louis would have been a marquee match-up.

Henry could be one of the GOATs if that jousting accident hadn't derailed his career :D
And if they'd bothered to write down any of the match results.
 
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