Join today and you can easily save your favourite articles, join in the conversation and comment, plus select which news your want direct to your inbox.
Join today and you can easily save your favourite articles, join in the conversation and comment, plus select which news your want direct to your inbox.
Slovakian tennis star Martin Klizan doubles over in pain after a strong hit from the former Australian Open winner Stan Wawrinka, flies straight into his nether-region.
Australians Daria Gavrilova and Jordan Thompson have fought back for opening round wins, while the Open saw the longest match in its history, lasting 84 games.
Aussie Alex De Minaur is already drawing comparisons to tennis legend Lleyton Hewitt but the dynamo says he couldn't have caused one of the boil overs of the Australian Open without some inspiration from the man himself.
Slovakian tennis star Martin Klizan doubles over in pain after a strong hit from the former Australian Open winner Stan Wawrinka, flies straight into his nether-region.
A rusty Wawrinka – hindered by hitting 43 unforced errors – eventually won, dispatching his adversary 4-6 6-4 7-5 4-6 6-4.
But not before he poured out his frustrations right into his opponent's nether-region.
Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka, left, checks on Slovakia's Martin Klizan after he was struck by the ball. Photo: Kin Cheung
At 4-4 in the fifth set, Klizan reached for a low return and bunted it harmlessly up in the air – target practice for Wawrinka's meaty forehand.
The Slovakian dropped his racquet-hand, knowing the point was lost. Wawrinka sauntered in, sized up his shot, then slammed the ball as hard as he could into Klizan's groin.
Klizan sunk to the ground in pain, and Wawrinka quickly clambered over the net to apologise – before going on to win the match.
At a later press conference Klizan sounded less than impressed with the Swiss's miss.
"I stopped playing. He could play anywhere, the whole court," the Slovak said.
"He could play anywhere on the court and he hit me."
Wawrinka defended playing a hard shot against a seemingly-defenceless opponent.
"That was, for sure, a tough shot for him. The thing is there are some players they fake you, and you stop playing and then they just put up the racquet," Wawrinka said.
"So for me I already miss some easy ones. For me the most important thing was to run straight over to him.
"I just wanted to make sure he was OK. I realised he was OK.
"I'm sorry I touch him in the wrong place. But I think it was OK at the end."
Save articles for later.
Subscribe for unlimited access to news. Login to save articles.
Return to the homepage by clicking on the site logo.