The highs and lows of being a professional tennis player were on full display at the US Open on Tuesday (AEST).
After Emma Navarro scraped through with a 7-6(6), 6-7(1), 6-3 win over Lois Boisson, she was visually relieved as she celebrated going through to the second round at Flushing Meadows.
Boisson, however, was fuming, hitting her racquet on the ground and throwing it into the net.
The 23-year-old Frenchwoman then regained her composure to congratulate her opponent at the net and shake hands with the chair umpire, before then taking another fresh racquet out of her bag and getting all of her frustration out.
You can watch the hilarious contrast of emotions in the player above.
Footage shows the American celebrating with seemingly no idea that just metres behind her, Boisson had begun unloading on her racquet, smashing it on the ground several times with great force.
The footage quickly went viral, with the vision seen more than a million times on X.
“Emma Navarro celebrating her U.S. Open first round win with fist pumps and smiles. Her opponent Lois Boisson casually obliterating her racquet behind her. Tennis,” popular tennis account The Tennis Letter wrote on X.
“This clip of Navarro celebrating with Boisson destroying her racket is ABSOLUTE CINEMA,” another said.
“One of the all-time racquet demolition jobs,” a third added.
Earlier, Navarro and Boisson’s first-round match was delayed due to the rain on Monday.
“It was really tough stopping at the point of the match we were at,” Navarro said.
“I just felt like I had worked really hard to get to that point, and then all of a sudden, it’s like we’re gonna come out tomorrow and we both have a clean slate. It’s really unique because you feel like you should feel like you’re ahead, but you kind of don’t.”
The No. 26 seed took to the court on Tuesday up 7-6(6), 4-2 before Boisson took control on Tuesday to take the second set, before Navarro composed herself to take the third and the match.
“It was really tough. Kind of took me a little while to find my bearings,” Navarro said.
“I think it was after I got broken in the third when I was like, okay, now I know I’m where I want to be. I’m ready to play.”