In tennis, smashing a racket is a pretty common thing. But why do players resort to doing it? Perhaps players take out their frustration. In fact, the act has cost several players penalties, which include hefty fines. While some disapprove, others see it as a way of emotions spilling over, which makes players more human. Just a few days ago, Russian star Daniil Medvedev made the headlines for a similar reason after his exit from the 2025 Citi Open. We have in our hands a similar incident from the Canadian Open.

Let’s talk Medvedev first. After losing to Corentin Moutet by 6-1,4-6,4-6, the Russian couldn’t keep calm and was seen throwing his racket across the court in frustration. He followed up the racket with a metal water bottle to the ground, which he hurled repeatedly. The witnesses to this rage, the audience, responded with loud boos and jeers. Another similar moment took place at the end of the R32 match up between the in-form Italian Flavio Cobolli and Fabian Marozsan at the Canadian Open.

The match started with Cobolli taking a quick lead by wrapping up the first set at 6-2. But then, the Hungarian came back hungry in the second set and won it by 6-4. However, despite that strong resurgence, he failed to seal the deal in the third set. Cobolli managed to secure a spot in the R16 of the Canadian Open by winning the contest in a three-set thriller (6-2,4-6,6-3). Much to everyone’s surprise, Marozsan was seen smashing his racket across the court shortly after failing to stop the Italian’s win on the match point. His angry outburst after the match has now raised eyebrows.

Currently ranked 58th in the world, Fabian Marozsan has struggled this season, and he has a win-loss record of 18-18 as of now. Although he started the season with a deep run to the QF at the Hong Kong Open and then made it to the SF at the BMW Open, it’s otherwise been a bland season for the Hungarian. However, at the 2025 Canadian Open, his odds were up until this match. After beating Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien in the first round by 6-2,6-2, he managed to secure yet another straight set victory against the local favorite, Felix Auger-Aliassime (6-4,6-4).

The end of this incredible run and the break in momentum could have played on his frustration a bit. At the 2025 Italian Open, we saw Jakub Mensik losing his cool during his match against Fabian Marozsan, but now, the Hungarian set up a similar chaotic moment in a different way. This was his third meeting with Cobolli, and with this win at the Canadian Open, the Italian now has a lead of 2-1 against Marozsan. Flavio Cobolli has been having a wonderful time so far this season…

Flavio Cobolli recalls an iconic moment from just weeks before the Canadian Open

The 23-year-old Italian has been in red-hot form this season. He has already won two titles (Bucharest Open and Hamburg Open) this season. Currently ranked 17th in the world, Cobolli has posted a win-loss record of 23-17. But keeping this couple of titles aside, Cobolli witnessed a dream-come-true for the second time in his career at this year’s Wimbledon. Before the start of his QF match against Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, Cobolli said, “I don’t know what I’ll do before the match because he’s my biggest idol. I want to enjoy the match, the crowd…“

He wanted to live in the moment and have fun in the match, and guess what? Flavio Cobolli did just that and even more. He kept the fans on the edge of their seats with his entertaining self brand of tennis against his idol. Although in that match he suffered a 7-6(6),2-6,5-7,4-6 defeat against the Serb, Cobolli earned few words of praise from the horse’s mouth after the match. Flavio Cobolli revealed that during their handshake at the net, Novak Djokovic told him that he’d soon be in the top 10 and also claimed that he’d stay there for many years.

Not just Djokovic, but even former pro, Marion Bartoli, was left impressed with Cobolli. She said, “I think it shows how mentally he’s ready for that, and I think that will give him such a platform to reproduce that kind of level against the other top players…he will absolutely be able to challenge the top players in the years to come.“

Weeks after that match, Flavio Cobolli was spotted revisiting that day at Wimbledon when he gave Djokovic a run for the money. Amid his Canadian Open campaign, Flavio Cobolli gave an interview with the Tennis Channel, and during that interview, he said, “Novak has been my idol since I started to play tennis. I was really nervous to play against him, but this time (at Wimbledon) I had more confidence in my game. On that day, I came with more confidence in myself, and I just tried to play my game and be happy about everything on that court.”

He claimed that it was perhaps one of his best matches ever, despite the result not being in his favor! Further on, he also spoke about how hard he had been working these days to improve his game further. But talking about improvement, can he put up a better show in his R16 match at the 2025 Canadian Open?