Tennis argument threatens to end friendship

A monumental on-court meltdown has threatened to tear apart a friendship between two professional tennis players.

Jürgen Melzer and João Sousa were locked in a tense battle when a controversial moment started a fiery confrontation between the two mates.

With scores tied at 3-3 and 40-40 during the first set on Melzer's serve, Sousa made a desperate effort to reach a perfectly executed drop shot.

But when the Portuguese clips the ball back across the net, Melzer stops play and immediately attacks his friend for playing on after a disputed double bounce.

"You played it with the ground," the Austrian yells at Sousa. "If you watch it, you played it with the ground. One million percent."

"Jürgen, I swear the ball didn't (touch the ground)," Sousa protests.

But when the chair umpire appears to side with Sousa, Melzer amps up the argument, insinuating the incident could be the end of their friendship.

"It's the worst thing that ever happened to me from a friend," Melzer says.

"We spend so much time together."

Sousa eventually claimed the point and a key break of service as he went on to win the match 6-4 6-4.