- Jakub Mensik, 19, was taking part in a tricky tussle with Roberto Bautista Agut
- But after claiming the first set, the teen was unable to pull away in the second
- Chair umpire came close to defaulting the player for unsportsmanlike conduct
A tennis player almost injured a spectator in the stands at Queen’s on Wednesday afternoon after smashing his racquet and letting it fly into the crowd.
Jakub Mensik was taking part in his second-round clash against Roberto Bautista Agut at the historic venue, with the teenager keen to add a grass title to his trophy cabinet after picking up the Miami Open title in March.
The number-eight seed had claimed the first set of his contest with the Spaniard handily, 6-3, but found himself on the back foot early on in the second.
A break down, Mensik looked to restore parity on the Bautista Agut serve and looking to break back.
But after his 37-year-old opponent pulled off the crucial hold of service, Mensik let his emotions get the better of him, smashing his racquet into the grass on the baseline.
After bringing down his racquet with force however, Mensik let it slip from his grasp, with the item flying off the court and up into the stands.
Attendees at The Queen’s Club were forced to duck for cover, with one woman in the third row narrowly avoiding injury.
Mensik was given a code violation warning for unsportsmanlike conduct by the chair umpire as he checked his hands in seeming disbelief after the incident.
‘Oh my goodness,’ Lee Goodall said in surprise on world feed commentary. ‘Well, that’s why you have to be careful.
‘What will the outcome be here, because that’s landed in the crowd? How lenient will (umpire) James Keothavong be here?’
On BBC commentary, former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash argued that Mensik had been lucky not be defaulted.
‘It clearly slipped out of his hand and he didn’t mean to do that but he would have got a warning for that,’ Cash told viewers. ‘He’s lucky there’s nobody in the crowd (in those seats) or he would’ve been on his way back to the hotel.’
Although he was allowed to stay on the court, Mensik had a torrid time of it, with Bautista Agut claiming the second set, and then the win as the players went the distance 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in west London.
Bautista Agut will now play the winner of Holger Rune’s clash with US star Mackenzie MacDonald.
