Tennys Sandgren booked his place in the second round of the 2021 Adelaide International by defeating Australian JP Smith in the opening round in a grueling three-set match. Sandgren struggled with his serve during the match, winning just 66% of the points of his first serve.

The American broke Smith’s serve early in the opening set and won the first set comfortably 6-3. In the second set, both players broke each other’s serve multiple times, but Smith held his nerve and eventually clinched the set 7-5. However, drama unfolded in the deciding set when Sandgren lost his cool after he hit a poor shot.

Tennys Sandgren mid-match outburst

Sandgren broke Smith’s serve early in the third set and started serving to get a 4-2 lead. However, Sangren lost the first two points of his serve and then hit a wide forehand which landed outside the court to give his opponent three breakpoints. Having lost the 3-1 lead, Sandgren couldn’t control his anger and vented out his frustration.

“I hate this stupid sport,” screamed Sandgren, fuming after losing his lead in the third set. To make matters worse, Sandgren smashed his racquet following the outburst and received a point violation. However, the 29-year-old regained his composure and broke Smith’s serve at 5-4 to wrap up the match in 2 hours 14 minutes.

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Seeded No.9, Sandgren will now face Italian tennis player, Salvatore Caruso, in the second round of the ATP 250 event. At the 2020 Italian Open, Sandgren played against Caruso for the first time and lost in an epic three-set showdown.

Notably, Sangren was one among the 72 players who were placed under a hard lockdown over the last two weeks. The American had tested positive before boarding the flight to Melbourne but was allowed to travel after examination of his medical reports, which deemed it to be viral shedding from an earlier infection.