‘First time ever’… Andrey Rublev says he did something he’s never done before in French Open defeat

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Andrey Rublev described his French Open meltdown as some of his worst behaviour at a Grand Slam.

The 26-year-old went through one of the lowest points of his career during the third round of the French Open.

During his match with Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi, Rublev lost his cool on numerous occasions as he struggled to find his best tennis.

After winning the Madrid Open title less than a month ago in which was one of his career highlights, Rublev’s exit from Roland Garros was certainly not his finest hour.

Andrey Rublev explains his outbursts at Roland Garros

Despite Rublev losing his temper multiple times it did not help him find his form as Arnaldi only grew in confidence. The Russian suffered a 7-6(6), 6-2, 6-4 loss and once again failed in his quest to win a maiden Grand Slam title.

Post-match the player expressed disappointment with his actions. “Completely disappointed with the way I behaved, the way I performed,” he told reporters. “I think it was the first time I ever behaved that bad.

“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. I was struggling.

“The problem is the head, that today basically I kill myself, and that’s it. But somehow I was able to break back. Then out of nowhere, again, I collapse with myself, I get emotional, I lost my serve, and then I lose it completely and basically I almost – almost, no, I tank the second set, and then it was too late.”

What did Andrey Rublev do in his French Open third round match?

As he failed to gain control of the match, Rublev became agitated and slammed his racket to the ground.

He even kicked his chair several times as jeers reigned down from the Suzanne Lenglen crowd.

The player even inflicted pain on himself as he hit his racket against his knee as he struggled to control his anger.

He was seen yelling on multiple occasions both to himself and his box during his first career defeat to Arnaldi. The Italian will go on to play Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round of the French Open.