"One of the most hideous things I’ve seen in this sport.. nice" - Fans react to Hungarian player Zsombor Piros’ bizarre serve tactic at Davis Cup

The Davis Cup is always witness to some exciting tennis action and on Saturday (September 13) Zsombor Piros left the audience in Debrecen stunned when he pulled off a bizarre overarm dropshot serve. Reacting to this, fans on social media were quick to make their feelings known about the Hungarian's out of the box thinking.

Piros was in action for the fourth match in the Davis Cup tie between Hungary and Austria. The 25-year-old was up against Lukas Neumayer, and with Hungary in need of a win to stay alive in the tie, the stakes for Piros were certainly high.

During his clash against Neumayer, Zsombor Piros pulled off a bizarre overarm serve that left his opponent confused and looking at the umpire. Reacting to a video of the moment, one fan on Reddit wrote,

“That is one of the most hideous things I've seen in this sport... nice.”

Another expressed a similar sentiment, adding,

“Absolutely despicable..I love it. But If someone pulled it on me I'd be mad spiteful.”

Here is how other tennis enthusiasts reacted to Piros’ unique serve:

“People complaining about shit like this is one of the reasons why Tennis has a reputation of being a sport for "softies." This was a completely legal shot. If this is an issue then general drop shots should be too. Tennis should then be a groundstroke slap match. Completely ridiculous. It sucks that these norms pressure even casual players from attempting this stuff. More creativity is good for the sport,” one fan wrote. “I've always wondered why players don't play drop shots more often,” another added. “More players should mix it up like this,” a Reddit user opined. “Is it legal? what are they gonna do? arrest him?” yet another fan chimed in.

Via Reddit

Davis Cup: Austria upsets Hungary despite Zsombor Piros’ win

Zsombor Piros in action during the Hungary v Austria - 2025 Davis Cup Qualifiers Second Round: (Image Source: Getty)

Going into the David Cup tie between Hungary and Austria, the former were the strong favorites for the win, given that they had several high ranking singles stars on their team.

However, Hungary was dealt a major blow on the opening day of the tie as Austrian players Jurij Rodionov and Lukas Neumayer outdid Fabian Marozsan and Marton Fucsovics in the first two matches. Reacting to this performance, Austrian captain Jurgen Melzer said,

"It's a great performance from both players. They really left their hearts out there - they have been fighting from the very first to the very last point. Any close tennis match you win, you need a bit of luck, but sometimes the brave get more luck, and that's what happened today and I'm really happy for the boys that we're in that position now."

Hungary made a brief comeback in the tie when Zsombor Piros and Fabian Marozsan won their doubles match, before Piros followed this up with a victory in his singles encounter. However, Austria managed to pull through in the final match, with Rodionov beating Fucsovics.

Edited by Riddhi Acharya