Furious tennis star throws RACKET at ballboy in anger after losing set
JAKUB MENSIK avoided a default after hurling his racket at a ball boy during the Miami Open.
The 18-year-old competed against Slovak Lukas Klein in the second qualifying round.
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Mensik left a tight first set behind Klein 8-6 in a tiebreak.
After seeing his serve at 6-7 in the breaker knocked right back for the winner, the Czech teenager couldn’t contain his frustration.
As he walked back to his chair, Mensik launched his racket towards the referee’s chair.
The reckless hurling whistled past a ball boy and fortunately hit no one, despite leaving the small crowd in shock.
Mensik, number 70 in the world, avoided a default and was able to continue the match with a warning.
He then lost a similarly tight second set 7–5, failing to qualify for the Masters 1000 event – with Klein advancing and Alex Michelsen drawing.
Fans online were shocked by Mensik’s behavior.
One wrote: “That was pretty scary.”
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While a second asked: “Why wasn’t this an automatic standard?”
A third commented: “I watched yesterday and wasn’t impressed with how he played and his attitude to the game.”
Although a fourth replied: “There’s no standard for almost hitting someone. Yes, he shouldn’t be throwing, but it’s just a warning for racket abuse here.”
Another added: “That should be a standard anyway.”
Mensik has enjoyed a breakout year on the ATP Tour so far.
He qualified for the Australian Open in January before beating Denis Shapovalov in the first round, with his run ultimately ended by Hubert Hurkacz in five grueling sets.
The promising teenager then reached the final in Qatar last month, recording impressive wins against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Andy Murray, Andrey Rublev and Gael Monfils before falling to Karen Khachanov.
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