Tommy Paul lost his cool towards the end of his third-round Australian Open match against Miomir Kecmanovic as he smashed his racket on a chair in the fifth set before being knocked out of the tournament.
The American tennis star enjoyed a career-best run to the semi-finals of the Australian Open last year before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
He would have fancied his chances of another deep run at the Melbourne major this year too after impressive victories over Gregoire Barrere and British tennis ace Jack Draper.
Paul looked set to progress to the fourth round with a win over Kecmanovic having had two match point opportunities in the fourth set tiebreak.
Tommy Paul smashed his racket to pieces
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But the Serbian tennis star managed to save both points before taking the tiebreak 9-7 and force a deciding set.
Paul never recovered from that setback as he was bageled in the fifth set and knocked out of the tournament.
His frustrations got the better of him at one point as he smashed his racket on a chair midway through the final set.
Paul sunk into his chair with the damaged racket by his side, but the change of equipment failed to help his cause.
Kecmanovic was ruthless in the end with an 80 per cent win rate on his first serve and only two unforced errors in the whole set.
The Serbian now moves on to face world No 2 Carlos Alcaraz for a place in the quarter-finals.
Taylor Fritz and 19-year-old star Alex Michelsen are the only American males left in the draw now.
The latter takes on No 6 seed Alexander Zverev today for a spot in the fourth round having already earned impressive wins over James Mccabe and Jiri Lehecka.
Tommy Paul appeared distraught in the fifth set
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In the women's draw, Amanda Anisimova and Coco Gauff are the sole American representatives left.
Gauff is seen as one of the players to beat in this year's Australian Open after winning her first Grand Slam title at the 2023 US Open.
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Tommy Paul gifted the broken racket to a young fan
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The 19-year-old won the ASB Classic in the build-up to the Melbourne Grand Slam.
Sofia Kenin was the last American woman to win the Australian Open after she defeated Garbine Muguruza for her first Grand Slam title in 2020.
A male American player hasn't won the Australian Open since Andre Agassi picked up his eighth and final Grand Slam title in Melbourne back in 2003.
