Viktor Troicki has four minute epic meltdown at the Italian Open (Video)
They say tennis is one of the loneliest sports, a man or woman out on an island beating ball after ball back at an opponent that is going through the same mental checklist on each shot in hopes of reigning supreme. In some cases, that solitarily can lead one to a bit of a breakdown.
Enter Viktor Troicki, a 27-year-old Serbian with one career ATP title and now one career-defining meltdown that took place during his second-round match at the Italian Open against Ernests Gulbis. Troicki had dropped the first set 6-1 and was facing a break point in the first game of the second set when chair umpire Cedric Mourier overruled a backhand by Troicki that lost him the game.
That, apparently, was enough for Troicki who started yelling, screaming and pointing at Mourier for the next four minutes.
How bad did it get? Troicki eventually grabbed a cameraman and pulled him over to the spot that he thought the ball landed, instructing the man to do a close-up of what he thought was the in-spot of his shot.
The whole thing is incredible for a number of reasons, but this entire quote is just golden.
"No, come on, Cedric, you know you’re wrong," Troicki said during his meltdown. "Come on, you know you’re wrong. Come on, please. You know that you’re wrong. You called it and now you don’t want to overrule yourself. Come on, there is no space. You know there is no space. Come on, no, I don’t want to play like this. There is no space. There is zero space. … You don’t want to correct yourself … because you always think you’re right, but you’re not."
Troicki eventually lost the match 6-1, 6-1 and while he is out in Rome, this video will live forever.
