Frustrations boil over as Andrey Rublev is knocked out of French Open

Russian hot-head Andrey Rublev lost his cool spectacularly as he crashed out of the French Open.

The sixth seed had a heated argument with umpire Lazemar Engzell over the mark left by a disputed line call during the second set of his third-round clash with Matteo Arnaldi.

Rublev promptly dropped serve and exploded with rage, smashing his racket to the ground and screaming towards his players’ box.

At the changeover the 26-year-old repeatedly kicked his seat, leaving large dents in it.

In the third set Rublev, by now on the verge of tears, began furiously hitting his own knee with his racket.

Rublev usually saves his meltdowns for the quarter-finals, having never got past one at a grand slam.

But this was an even earlier exit for the world number six as he slumped to a 7-6 (6) 6-2 6-4 defeat to 23-year-old Italian Arnaldi.

“Completely disappointed with myself the way I behaved, the way I performed, and I don’t remember behaving worse on a slams ever,” said Rublev. “I think it was first time I ever behaved that bad.

“I think it’s not about concentration. I think it’s because the way I behave I put myself completely down, and I give Matteo wings to fly, and he was flying in the third set unbelievable. It was too late to do something.”

There was more joy for Italy when second seed Jannik Sinner eased through.

The 22-year-old Australian Open champion took his grand slam winning streak to 10 matches with a 6-4 6-4 6-4 victory over another Russian, Pavel Kotov.

Sinner, who was struggling with a hip injury prior to Roland Garros, said: “We were working a lot trying to be in the position where I am right now. I am happy at the moment knowing that I have to improve the physical shape for the next round, but let’s see what we can do tomorrow.

“Tennis-wise I felt quite good on the court, trying to mix up the game a little bit more like I used to do, which gives me more solutions.”

The night session did not provide much drama as Carlos Alcaraz beat American 27th seed Sebastian Korda 6-4 7-6 (5) 6-3.

The Spanish world number three looked below par against qualifier Jesper De Jong in the previous round, sparking concerns he was still feeling his forearm injury,

But he said: “It was a really good match, and I think I played really well, much better than the previous match.

“I wanted to feel myself on the court and I feel I did it pretty well. I’m feeling amazing and feel great playing on this court. I’m feeling better and better with every match here.

“I’m looking forward to the second week in Paris and hopefully keep going.”