ATP tennis star disqualified and loses match after full-court meltdown with umpire chair attacked
A tennis star produced one of the biggest on-court meltdowns in recent memory en route to losing at an ATP Challenger event in Italy.
Tristan Boyer took on Daniele Rapagnetta at Francavilla al Mare Open on Monday and was the clear favourite to beat the teenager, who is world number 938.
But Rapagnetta ended up winning 6-4 7-5 after Boyer went into self-destruct mode when the Italian led 6-5 and the opportunity to serve for the victory in the match.
The American proceeded to smash his racquet in frustration on a number of occasions.
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After a warning, he was hit with code violation - with Boyer subsequently being docked a game for racquet abuse as a penalty.
That meant the contest came to an abrupt end as Rapagnetta was handed the win in the second round of qualifying.
Boyer was not done there there and unleashed a tirade of abuse towards the umpire as he fumed, "You’re going to give me something that never even happened.
“That’s un-f***ing-believable, dude. I never had a f***ing ... I never... I mean, nothing happened.
“That’s just f***ing bull***t. F***ing bull***t. Watch the f***ing video. Nothing f***ing happened. F*** you, man.”
UNREAL scenes
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) May 4, 2026
Tristan Boyer receives a game penalty & loses the match
He hits the umpires chair:
‘You’re a f*cking moron’
He smashes his racquet some more
‘That’s un-f*cking believable. Nothing happened. That’s f*cking bullshit. F*ck you man’
😳😳😳 pic.twitter.com/EBaIV0TDpH
Boyer also went to town on another racquet, smashing it on the side of the umpire's chair. The anger did not disappear as he still had time to hack a racquet on the side of the court and against the fence as the stunned crowd watched on and jeered.
Eventually, after some more insulting language, Boyer walked off the court and slammed the fence door in rage as he exited to continue his extraordinary head-loss.
The 25-year-old's highest ever world ranking is No.106, which he was handed on 8 September 2025.
His irritated behaviour is anything but anomaly as a time violation at the San Diego Open in 2025 saw him scream at the umpire and smash a racquet.
The latest instance could well result in serious punishment from officials, with no word on any sanctions or any comment from Boyer at the time of writing.
Josh Lawless