Dutch tennis star Botic van de Zandschulp suffered a meltdown on court during his Qatar Open clash against Gael Monfils that ultimately cost him the chance of victory.
Van de Zandschulp had dropped the opening set to Monfils in just 26 minutes but increased his level in the second.
The Frenchman showed his resilience by saving six set points with a tiebreak needed to separate the pair.
The world No 70 lost his head at one stage and smashed his racket into piece as his frustrations got the better of him.
That saw Van de Zandschulp handed a code violation by chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani.
Botic van de Zandschulp had his set point taken away from him
TENNISTV
His frustrations continued in the tiebreak as Monfils got off to the better start and gave himself three match points.
Van de Zandschulp showed his fighting spirit to save all three and then embarked on a mini run of his own to give himself three more set points.
But it was the way in which Van de Zandschulp gained - and subsequently threw away - his third set point that left commentators in disbelief.
The 28-year-old won the point with an ace, but then incredibly launched a ball from his pocket into the crowd in anger.
That resulted in another code violation for ball abuse from the chair umpire and that ultimately led to a point penalty due to his previous infringement.
"This is unbelievable," one commentator said.
"As if we haven't seen it all during this breaker."
His angry outburst proved costly in the end with Monfils winning the next two points to wrap up the match in two sets.
Monfils admitted he was "fortunate" to come up with the win due to the circumstances.
"To be honest, he played good. I lost a little bit of focus," he said.
Botic van de Zandschulp was punished by chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani
TENNISTV
"Then I brought back the energy, you guys pushed me," Monfils told the crowd during his on-court interview.
"It was a real battle. In the end, I was a bit fortunate. But you know, I'll take it.
"The 37-year-old was asked further for his take on Van de Zandschulp's behaviour in his post-match press conference.
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Botic van de Zandschulp was not happy after that point 😡 pic.twitter.com/KqN6rlga9V
— Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) February 20, 2024
He added: "[Van de Zandschulp] started to get angry, but the fact that I sensed he was nervous made me tense.
"In the end, I came out of it with a lot of luck and success."
Monfils is through to the second round where he will face China's Zhizhen Zhang.
He's in the same half of the draw as Andy Murray, who takes on 18-year-old Jakub Mensik.
