German tennis player throws racquet at linesman in epic on-court tantrum

German tennis player Andrea Petkovic threw her racquet toward a linesman after a shocking call during her loss to Zarina Diyas at the WTA Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship.

Trailing 5-6 in the first set and with the scores locked at 40-40, the World No.10 left a deep forehand from Divas, which she believed was long.

But much to her dismay the shot was called in, causing Petkovic to scream "no" and then gesture to the umpire that the ball was out, opening her fingers about 10cm to indicate the distance.

With her pleas for an overrule ignored and no review system, the 27-year-old dropped to her knees and slammed the court with her hands before taking her appeals to the crowd.

And while replays showed the call was wrong, it proved a pivotal error with Petkovic going on to lose the game and set, 7-5, which sparked another bout of fury.

Upon losing the set, Petkovic blew up again, throwing her racquet toward her bench and narrowly missed the linesman.

Had the official been struck she would have been defaulted.

But clearly rattled, it turned out to be a terminal moment with Petkovic losing the match 7-5, 6-3.