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Adrian Mad Mannarino was the protagonist of a moment of madness during the United Cup match against Lorenzo Sonego. A challenge that would have significantly influenced the confrontation between Italy and France. The Frenchman, at the end of a lost point, was unable to contain the anger within him: the cameras framed him while he hit his forehead with rackets until he bled.
A bad blow for the 35-year-old, who suffered a noticeable cut and was immediately treated to prevent more blood from leaking.
There are now several tennis players who, in the most complicated circumstances to manage on a mental level during a match, resort to inflicting physical damage on themselves.
The most obvious example is Andrey Rublev, now also known for his rackets on the knees. Mannarino brought to mind the episode in which Mikhail Youzhny (now coach) was the protagonist in his career, hitting himself right in the forehead with the racket.
The scene surprised fans quite a bit and was reposted on social media by Tennis TV and the by The Tennis Letter X account. Here is the video of what happened:
Adrian Mannarino hit himself in the head with his racquet & drew blood.
Brings back flashbacks of Mikhail Youzhny.
Painful to watch.
pic.twitter.com/qUjt2LZIjK — The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 3, 2024
France beats Italy in the United Cup
Despite the cut, the world number 22 showed a solid and positive performance against the player from Italy and deserved the victory with a double 6-4.
His success on Wednesday 3 January in Sydney allowed his teammate Caroline Garcia to close the score in the next match against Jasmine Paolini and definitively qualify France for the quarter-finals of the United Cup. Mannarino will now find himself facing an even more difficult opponent in Casper Ruud, as the Franch tennis team will challenge Norway to reach the semi-final of the competition.
We reacll in the the challenge between Serbia and Australia, Alex De Minaur stopped Novak Djokovic's winng streak in Australia.