American rising star Alex Lebedev showed impossible resilience and class at the moment he broke down and chucked up his lunch.
The 22-year-old from Notre Dame University pushed himself to the point of vomiting on court during his ATP Challenger Tour match in Lexington, Kentucky. It came after a 30-minute period of pure anguish for Lebedev after he suffered ongoing muscle spasms and cramps throughout the third set of his match with Vasil Kirkov.
Lebedev’s leg cramps were so severe, he could not bring himself to stand upright for the entire set, waddling across the court hunched over in between points.
There were times he could barely lift his legs when he needed to walk to the other end of the court at the change of ends.
Lebedev let out a guttural roar while trying to push through a particularly painful cramp in his first service game of the third set.
Lebedev fought his way to a 5-4 lead in the final set after claiming the second set. He was serving for the match at deuce when the sweltering 90-degree heat and his rapidly fading fitness finally got the better of him.
Just two points from winning the match, Lebedev lost it after he went down break point. He hunched over on the baseline, hands on knees, looking down at the blue court.
After sucking in some deep breaths, he tried to walk to the back of the court to collect some balls from the ball boy, only to end up hurling uncontrollably right next to the effects microphone, which picked up every gruesome detail of Lebedev’s spew hitting the deck.
Barely able to stand, Lebedev continued to show complete class by repeatedly apologizing to officials and staff, who had to delay the match for nine minutes while the vomit was cleaned off the court and Lebedev’s condition was assessed.
“I’m so sorry,” he could be heard saying on a number of occasions.
He also offered many thank yous to the ball boys and anyone else unfortunate enough to get near his vomit. When the match resumed, Lebedev tried his best to keep playing, but it was obvious after the first point that he was done.
Despite having had a match point opportunity, he was forced to withdraw.
He may have lost the match, but his class in the face of adversity won over the tennis world — it also won him a lucky loser spot in the next round of the tournament, with officials giving him the prized second chance.
He took to social media after the match to respond to the fans he had won over with his gutsy performance, saying: “Thank you so much!! I fell just short today but gave it my all #nevergiveup.”