Women’s doubles star Katerina Siniakova has delivered a concerning meltdown during a three-set Australian Open win.
Siniakova, who has won seven grand slam doubles titles including the last two Australian Opens with compatriot Barbora Krejcikova, broke up their partnership at the end of 2023 and has joined up with Aussie doubles world No.1 Storm Hunter.
But the pair were in serious trouble in their second-round match on Saturday, the No.3 seeds down a set to Aussie wildcards Destanee Aiava and Maddison Inglis.
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Serving at 4-2 in the second set, Siniakova was broken to place the match back on level begging.
She furiously smashed her racquet as she exited the court, then receiving a code violation for racquet abuse while seated. As the announcement of the violation was made she again grabbed her racquet and broke it further, sending pieces of the frame flying.
The Czech then buried her face in her towel before crying, angrily gesturing at her players’ box and ranting in her native language.
“She’s really upset,” one of the commentators said.
The other replied: “There’s something going on there deeper than just a match.
“She’s been in tougher situations than this.
“It’s concerning, to be honest, because we don’t know these players as people … anything could be happening off the court and we have no idea.”
It’s unclear what the issue was but Siniakova and Hunter recovered to win the match 2-6 7-5 6-1.
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