Mikhail Youzhny was having such a bad day in the third round of the French Open that he felt the need to apologize, right on court during the match.
The 27th-seeded Russian scraped the word ''sorry'' - actually ''SORRi!'' - into the clay with his right foot in the middle of his 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 loss to No. 6 David Ferrer on Saturday.
''There was a lot of people. That's why I write 'sorry.' Because I can't show them a nice game,'' Youzhny said. ''The way we played in the beginning, it was not really interesting for people.''
Youzhny is well-known for a more painful on-court meltdown. In 2008 at the Sony Ericsson Open, Youzhny whacked himself in the head with his racket three times after losing a point. The antic left him with a thick stream of blood running from his hairline down his nose.
Against Ferrer, Youzhny won his first game early in the second set, making it 2-1. He held serve at love when Ferrer sent a forehand return into the net.
But instead of heading straight for his chair for the changeover, he stopped just inside the service line and started writing out his message.
A ball boy stood nearby with Youzhny's towel, and then backed off as the Russian continued drawing out the letters.
''People in the stands may not have noticed, but I think I had to do this,'' Youzhny said.
Ferrer said he didn't even see it.
''I don't know why he put this in the court, but I don't have (anything) to say,'' said Ferrer, who is the fourth round at Roland Garros for the fourth time.
