Lucky spectator gets front-row seat as Luciano Darderi obliterates racket in temper-ridden contest

Tempers flared in a highly competitive contest between Luciano Darderi and Dalibor Svrcina at the US Open. The number 21 seed would progress following at times a really frustrating tussle which saw him obliterate one of his rackets, seemingly to the delight of one particular fan.

The Italian would prevail 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4 but was pushed all the way by the Czech qualifier who was ranked over 100 places lower but still gave a good account of himself at Flushing Meadows.

Darderi was immediately on the back foot after being broken in the very first game, but would proceed to win four on the spin enroute to a commanding first set.

His advantage was extended in the second after securing a break to love of his own as he looked to press on and get the job done. This would not be the case. Svrcina battles hard and three games later took a fourth break point to level at 4-4.

Darderi completely lost his cool, knowing that he would have gone 5-3 up with a hold. As Svrcina got back on serve, Darderi went on to completely obliterate his racket. Letting out some much-needed steam. Darderi seemed to have hit capacity as he smashed his hapless racket into the ground a mesmerising nine times before throwing it towards his chair. He did it one more time before a fortunate fan was gifted the tattered racket.

While that had been going on, a specific spectator was thoroughly enjoying what he was watching. Sitting in the corner of Court 12, he had the perfect view of Darderi's meltdown, smiling while seemingly getting really into the racket smash that the 24-year-old was completing.

Svrcina would go on to win the second set in a tiebreak, but things did not go his way. The third set consisted of five holds followed by five breaks which went the way of Darderi with a third set point. The breaks continued in the fourth set with just three holds of serve. Darderi clinched two of them and that was enough to see him over the finishing line. A frustrated Svrcina joined the party following the climax, giving his racket a new look as everyone was leaving.

The Italian is in back-to-back US Open third rounds, showcasing his improvement on the big stage. There is a real chance for him to go even further in this tournament with the top half of the draw looking very sparse.

In fact, in his quarter of the draw there are two wildcards and a lucky loser with a number of the highly ranked players in this part exiting, One of them was Lorenzo Musetti who would have set up a third round Italian blockbuster against Darderi.

Instead, World No.123 Dane Sweeny will test his luck against Darderi, a match he should come out on top in. Then, he could have a rematch against the number one seed Alexander Zverev in the fourth round, depending on the German's outcome against Alejandro Tabilo. The duo clashed in the Rome Open earlier this year with Darderi surviving four match points before going on to bagel his opponent on home soil. He would eventually reach the semi-finals of the event in one of his best runs to date.

He can top that with a couple of wins at Flushing Meadows, but he will almost certainly need to keep his cool for the rest of the tournament.