Frances Tiafoe angrily lashes out at Australian Open water bottles | Tennis | Sport

Frances Tiafoe was given a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct after he threw water bottles onto the court in rage, before going out of the Australian Open in five sets to Fabian Marozsan.

The American had lost the first three games of the fifth set, having failed to take advantage of as many as 10 break chances in the fourth, before his frustration boiled over.

He sent a forehand too long as Marozsan held onto his serve, having broken Tiafoe the previous game, before the 26-year-old walked over to his chair and launched his bottles.

Eurosport commentator Mike Cation explained: “The water bottles flying here from Frances Tiafoe, throws them out onto the court.

“Frances Tiafoe getting a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct for knocking those water bottles onto the court, the frustration of missing out on those 10 break chances finally bubbling over. Those water bottles, not cheap.”

Tiafoe had earlier in the match remonstrated with the chair umpire as he disagreed over a call, before going down 6-7(3), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to the Hungarian.

It is the second year in a row that Tiafoe has exited Melbourne in the second round.

Tiafoe would have backed himself for a deep run at the opening Grand Slam of the year, having been put in a quarter of the draw headlined by himself, Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton.

But having lost from a 2-1 set lead, world No. 59 Marozsan has progressed to the third round where he will face Lorenzo Sonego after his win over 18-year-old wonderkid Joao Fonseca.

Now Tiafoe, who has excelled on hard courts at the US Open with two runs to the semi-finals in the past three years, has not advanced to the second week in Melbourne since he reached the quarter-finals six years ago.

After his first-round win over Arthur Rinderknech, which lasted four hours and eight minutes, Tiafoe admitted that his recovery was “horrible” before going on to struggle in the latter stages against Marozsan.

“Horrible, it’s been terrible,” Tiafoe said of his recovery on Monday. “I just, like, walked around for a while in the locker room, just stitches. Kind of managed that. Finally got in the shower. Finally ate. But still not feeling great.

“But at the same time you do feel great because you get to see another day. So you feel even worse if you’re feeling like this and you’re out of the tournament.”