Daniil Medvedev obliterated a racquet as he suffered the first 6-0 6-0 loss of his career at the hands of Matteo Berrettini in Monte Carlo.
The combustible Russian has made no secret of his dislike of playing on clay, previously describing it as “a surface for losers”.
However, he put in an abject 49-minute second-round performance against world number 90 Berrettini.
After losing the first set and going into an immediate break down in the second, Medvedev threw his racquet against the hoardings at the back of the court.
To the amusement of the crowd, he then picked the racquet back up and smashed it against the ground six times, ultimately snapping it in half.
Medvedev – who has likened playing on clay to being “like a dog in the dirt” – did not win any more than two points in the final 11 games as he fell to a ‘double bagel’ defeat.
The world number 10 hit 28 unforced errors, five double faults and won just four of 21 points behind his second serve in a dismal showing.
Medvedev has become infamous for his outbursts – most notably at last year’s US Open, where he had a meltdown after a photographer walked on court mid-match.
Afterwards, Berrettini wrote ‘scusa Carlo’ on the camera lens – an apology to Italian actor Carlo Verdone, who called Medvedev his favourite player earlier this week.
Wildcard Berrettini, the 2021 Wimbledon finalist making his way back up the rankings after a lengthy injury lay-off, said it was “one of the best performances of my life”.
“I think I missed three shots in the entire match,” Berrettini, 29, said.
“I think the game plan was perfect and my weapons were working.”
Former world number six Berrettini will face rising Brazil star Joao Fonseca next.
World number 15 Andrey Rublev also suffered an early exit, losing 6-4 6-1 to Belgium’s Zizou Bergs.
