Andrey Rublev suffered a disastrous second-round exit at the Paris Masters after losing 7-6(6), 7-6(5) to Francisco Cerundolo. During the match, there was a moment of drama as the Russian bloodied his knee after smashing it with his racket.

Rublev has often allowed his emotions to get the better of him, and a similar situation took place at the Paris Masters. The 27-year-old started the match well and led 4-1 in the first set but the Argentine bounced back and eventually won the set via a tiebreak.

During the second set, the Russian hit himself in the knee constantly with his racket, which eventually led to bleeding. Moments later, he was standing, holding his knee. Here’s the video:

The second set also went to a tiebreak, which Francisco Cerundolo won it 7-6(5) to book his place in the third round of the Paris Masters. The Argentine improved his head-to-head against Andrey Rublev to 3-1.

This is the fourth time in seven appearances that Andrey Rublev was knocked out of the Paris Masters without winning a match. The 27-year-old was thus unable to defend his semifinal points from 2023.

This is not the first time Andrey Rublev has hurt himself with a racket, as a similar instance occurred during his first-round defeat at Wimbledon 2024. During his match against Francisco Comesana, the Russian bloodied his knee with his racket.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, the 27-year-old said that he did what he did, as he needed to get his emotions out.

“I wouldn’t have done it if I could hit the racket on the ground, but we are not allowed to hit the grass in any way . I don’t know why I did that at that moment, I couldn’t stand it anymore, I needed to let my emotions out,” Rublev said, as quoted by Punto de Break.

The Russian’s defeat means that he now has a 42-22 win-loss record in 2024, winning titles at the Madrid Open and the Hong Kong Open. It’s yet to be seen if Rublev will play any further this season, as his participation in the ATP Finals isn’t yet confirmed. The 27-year-old is eighth in the Race to Turin rankings.