Having a smashing time

OVER 350,000 people have logged on to YouTube to see Marcos Baghdatis’ spectacular bout of racket rage.

Baghdatis went out of the Australian Open in a late match on Thursday morning (Irish time) in a fashion that will be long remembered.

Down two sets and a break, Baghdatis sat in his chair at the changeover and smashed his racket on the court seven times until it was almost unrecognisable. That wasn’t so unusual — but what happened next was.

Baghdatis calmly gave the mangled racket to a ballboy, took out a new one out of his bag and cracked that as well.

The next two, he didn’t even bother taking out of the plastic wrapping before smashing them into the court.

In all, the fiery Cypriot broke four rackets during a meltdown that lasted less than a minute and earned him a €1,000 fine — or €250 per racket.

“I hope he gets a share of the YouTube clips,” said former Aussie Open champion Jim Courier, who was working as an analyst during the tournament for Australian television.