Tennys Sandgren overcame a mid-match meltdown to defeat Australian John Patrick-Smith 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in the opening round of the Great Ocean Road ATP event in Melbourne for his first singles Tour win in over four months.
After failing to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set, Sandgren started getting frustrated. He blew his fuse after slamming a forehand into the net when facing a break point at 3-1 in the third set.
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Sandgren berated himself and went on to scream, ‘I hate this sport!’ He slammed the racquet into the court and was given a point penalty. Smith, World No.318, went ahead 4-3 in the third but World No.50 Sandgren regained his composure to wrap up the match.
🗣 "I HATE THIS STUPID SPORT!" 😡
Tennys Sandgren isn't having the greatest day… 😬
WATCH: 9Go!
STREAM: https://t.co/OJe37KO1AB #9WWOS #MelbourneSummerSeries pic.twitter.com/EDGohCc2Co— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) February 2, 2021
The controversial American, ranked No 50 in the world, had made the quarterfinals of the Australian Open last year. But he hasn’t had a happy outing in the country so far.
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Sandgren was allowed on one of the chartered planes for Australian Open despite testing positive for the virus. The Australian health department deemed that as he had tested positive in October, he was only shedding the virus and was not infectious.
The 29-year-old was one of the 72 players stuck in hard quarantine and took to social media to make his displeasure public.
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“I just found out we’re not going to be able to leave the room until midnight tomorrow which will put us out close to 15 days in this room,” he said in an Instagram video. “That’s also another day we can’t practice.
“(Train) Saturday, Sunday, Monday, play a match on Tuesday, a match – a competitive tennis match. Sixteen days off, three days hitting. Tennis match. My name’s Tennis Australia and I’m sooooo cool.”
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Sandgren’s win over Patrick-Smith on Tuesday was his first in a tour match since the French Open. He had suffered four straight first-round losses thereafter. He will next play Italy’s Salvatore Caruso.
