In tennis, fans often elevate the atmosphere, from Lorenzo Musetti charming crowds in China to James Keothavong ejecting an “unruly” spectator in Shanghai. But at the Challenger event in Portugal, the energy took a strange turn. Italian player Federico Bondioli delivered a bizarre on-court reaction to the rowdy crowd as he battled home favourite Frederico Ferreira Silva, creating a moment that captured the unpredictable heartbeat of lower-tier tennis.

The moment unfolded in their Round of 32 match at the Challenger tournament in Maia, Portugal, when the Italian dropped a point to home favourite Silva. Journalist Jose Morgado captured the scene as the crowd erupted, growing loud and rowdy, prompting Bondioli to respond by rhythmically dancing on his way to the bench in sync with the clapping, a gesture that instantly electrified the atmosphere.

The match remained just as dramatic when Bondioli even took a medical timeout after winning the first set 6-3, with the medical team entering the court as he pointed to discomfort in his abs or ribcage area.

(More to come…)