Pickleball star slams his paddle as he descends into shocking meltdown... only to suffer ultimate humiliation

The only thing more humiliating than an on-court meltdown, is failing to execute the crashout - as one pickleball player discovered this week. 

Zane Ford, a pickleballer on the Carvana PPA Tour, exploded after a brutal blow during the Select Medical Orange County Cup in California on Wednesday. 

The 20-year-old lost match point on a wayward volley back to opponent James Ignatowich that he fired left of the line. 

The misfire, which sealed his defeat in the Round of 32, triggered an explosive reaction from the world No 14. 

Ford, who turned pro in 2023, immediately let out a frustrated cry before repeatedly launching his paddle to the ground. 

Despite repeatedly slamming the paddle on the Humana Championship Court, humiliatingly it refused to crack, forcing Ford to resort to using his knee. 

He tried hitting it on his knee but it still weathered his attacks, merely bending a little bit. 

Ford, a Pennsylvania native, later took to social media to apologize for his actions before attempting to justify his unsportsmanlike behavior. 

'First of all, I'm sorry for damaging such a beautiful paddle,' Ford said in a video shared to Instagram. 

'At the end of the day, I'm here to win. I put my whole life into this, and I wanna be the best player in the world, so my emotions got the better of me that day. I'm working on it and trying to get to a better spot with that. 

'I'm here to win. This is my life. This is what I do to make a living. This is all I ever really think about. Of course I'm going to get upset when I lose the first game 11-0 and then lose 1 and 4.' 

In a second video, Ford claimed that his outburst actually helped to grow the sport after a clip of his meltdown went viral. 

Ford had dominated the first game of the match 11-0, before falling apart, losing 11-1 and 11-4 to seal his fate against Ignatowich, who is ranked No. 65.