Dimitrov suffers racquet meltdown

Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov smashed three racquets on his way to conceding the Istanbul Open final to Argentine Diego Schwartzman.

Dimitrov received a warning for smashing his first racquet early in the third set before doing it again soon after.

Trailing 5-0 in the third set, Dimitrov broke another racquet when level at 40-40 in the sixth game, resulting in a match-ending penalty.

“I let myself down, I let my team down, I let my family down with that behaviour,” Dimitrov said.

“I started cramping at 5-2 in the second set. It was very unfortunate that I couldn’t close out the match. I have to give credit to Diego.”

Second seed Dimitrov was one set ahead and 5-2 up in the second before Schwartzman, the world No.87, fought back to win the his first ATP title 6-7(5) 7-6(4) 6-0.

Dimitrov, the world No.29, lost 11 of the last 12 games of the claycourt.

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