ALEXANDER ZVEREV confirmed his status as the new bad boy of tennis with an explosive display of racquet smashing in Shanghai.
German youngster Zverev is one of the rising stars on the tennis circuit after storming up the world rankings to number four at the age of 20.
But the 6ft 5in star is also gaining a reputation for struggling to control his temper with a series of on-court outbursts.
And his latest is sure to land him in trouble with tournament organisers after he suffered a meltdown on the way to a Shanghai Masters exit to Juan Martin del Potro.
Zverev was hoping to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the big tournament in China against Argentine veteran Del Potro.
And all was going well as he took the first set comfortably 6-4 as he chased his sixth title of the year.
But Del Potro levelled by taking the second set on a tie-brack, and when the 29-year-old secured a break of serve in the decider the red midst descended on Zverev.
The giant German smashes his racquet to the floor before trying to stamp on it in frotn of a stunned crowd.
With his equipment badly damaged he then walked to his seat before smashing it against a waste bin by the umpire twice for good measure.
With his concentration clearly shot there was nothing the youngster could do to turn his fortunes around, and Del Potro went on to take the decider 6-4.
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