Spanish tennis player Pablo Carreno Busta recently took to the courts at the Australian Open, where he took on Japanese player Kei Nishikori. Their match lasted five hours, and when his opponent came out on top, he was far from happy at the result - feeling that he had been cheated by an earlier decision made by umpire Thomas Sweeney.
During the Monday night match at Melbourne's Margaret Court arena, he stopped to hug his opponent after the loss, before slamming his bag onto the court. He was also heard shouting "cabron" - a Spanish word that roughly translates to dumba** - as he left the court, to the boos of some members of the audience.
Busta was two points from victory in a fifth set tiebreaker, before the collapse began. In the ensuing rally, a line call went against him, his shot being called out just as Nishikori returned the ball for a winner. Once the Hawk-eye camera revealed that Busta's shot was actually in, Nishikori's return was ruled as the winning strike, while Busta angrily demanded they replay the point.
He furiously protested the decision at the time, and when he eventually lost the match, this anger resurfaced. However, once he recuperated post-match, he showed some remorse for his actions, tearfully stating:
"Obviously I'm very sad because after five hours fighting, the way that I leave from the court wasn't correct, and I'm so sorry, because that's not me. I tried to leave as fast as possible when I lost that last point, because I know that in any moment I will lose the head.
"It's tough, to me to leave Australian Open like this, because I think that I played an unbelievable match. Also Kei, he played really good, and that's sad to leave like this."
Busta is far from the only tennis player to lose his cool on the courts, and not the first to cause some controversy for his heated response in the last year.
In September last year, Serena Williams became angered at the umpire for deducting points for infringements, calling him a "liar and a thief". She was given a game penalty for her remarks, unlike players with similar outbursts like Busta, which only made things worse. Williams demanded an apology, said she would "never cheat to win and would rather lose," all of which sparked an intense debate about her actions and what happened on the court amongst fans of the sport.
"I feel like Serena should have walked away," Roger Federer later said of the incident. "She did, but she went too far. She should have walked earlier," he said, adding that her actions were "a little bit excusable. "The umpire maybe should not have pushed her there ... It's unfortunate, but an incredible case study."
While Pablo Carreno Busta is now out of the tournament, Nishikori is going ahead to play the six-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic.