CBC Sports Online: Ivanisevic blows up in England, runs out of rackets

"Goran Ivanisevic banged to bits one racket after another Thursday and then had none left to play with.

The result? He had to default during the final set of his match Thursday at the Samsung Open tennis tournament."

I admit that I've done this before... on two separate occasions. The first time, I was about 16, I was pissed off, smashed my racket into the net pole, and totally destroyed the frame. It was intentional, actually -- I wanted an excuse to get a better racquet.

The second time was in the fall of 1998 -- I was disgusted with my play, and threw my racquet backwards towards the curtain behind the court. If it had hit the curtain as I intended (it wasn't the first time I had done that), it wouldn't have broken. But it hit the metal leg of a bench first (I threw it too low) and cracked the graphite frame. That was an expensive mistake.

Each time I did that, I didn't have a backup racquet, so I had to "default the match" as well. :-)

Hockey sticks are so much cheaper... I should have brought one of those along with me when I played tennis. :-) I'm a lot more mellow and mature now, thankfully.

I have a soft spot for Goran. He's a very disturbed person, IMHO, and needs help. I like him as a person (I've seen his nice side too) and enjoy watching him play tennis. He's a real person, not perfect, he says things he regrets, and he shows his humanity. I like that.