Istanbul Open: Dimitrov suffers racket-smashing meltdown

Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov smashed three rackets on his way to losing the Istanbul Open final to Argentine Diego Schwartzman on Sunday.

Second seed Dimitrov was one set ahead and 5-2 up in the second before Schwartzman, the world number 87, fought back to win the his first ATP title 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-0.

"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." Dimitrov, the world number 29, lost 11 of the last 12 games of the claycourt match, smashing up two rackets along the way.

The world number 29, trailing 5-0 in the third set, then broke up another racket when level at 40-40 in the sixth game of the set, resulting in a match-ending penalty.