On the racquet-obliteration scale, give Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov an 8 out of 10 for effort as he implodes in Istanbul

Give some props to Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov.

Before he went postal on his tennis racquets for the final time in a three-set loss to Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman of Argentina in the Istanbul ATP Tour final Sunday, he at least had the courtesy of giving the chair umpire some advance warning.

What followed will get a whole lot of air time.

The 24-year-old, called "Baby Federer" early in his career for his stylistic homage to the Swiss star, was in the top 10 just two years ago and hailed as one of the next generation of stars on the ATP Tour. Since then, he has seen a two-year relationship with fellow tennis player Maria Sharapova end, and has seen his ranking fall to No. 28.

And in the final against Schwartzman, a diminutive, scrappy player who was seeking his first Tour title, Dimitrov had his share of issues.

The stringing on his racquets was failing him – badly. As well, he said later he began cramping when he was up a set and 5-2 in the second set and couldn’t serve it out when he had the opportunity.

After Dimitrov was broken early in the third set, the racquet paid the price.

By the time it was 0-5 in the third, they ALL paid the price.

Dimitrov is known as a gentle, kind soul. He once rescued a ballgirl who had fainted on court and took great care of her.

But on Sunday, it all came to a head.

At deuce, he walked towards his chair, seemingly warning chair umpire Mohammed Lahyani about what he was about to do, and obliterated another stick.

He shook Lahyani’s hand, then went over to give Schwartzman a hug. Technically, he wasn’t defaulted; having been given a point penalty for the previous racquet destruction, the penalty for the repeat offence was a game. In this case, the final game.

Dimitrov was appropriately sheepish during the trophy ceremonies.

“First of all, congrats to Diego, he was … way to fight the game,” Dimitrov said. “First and foremost, I let my family down. I let my team down. I let all you guys (the fans) down with that kind of behaviour, which I’m definitely apologizing for.”

At least he made one female fan extremely happy.

This is not the Bulgarian's first rodeo; he's been here before.

He's lucky he didn't maim himself here.

He has a ways to go before making the Racquet as Modern Art Hall of Fame, though.

At about 5:15 a.m. Monday Istanbul time, Dimitrov added this apology Tweet.

Likely he was up early to catch a flight for the next tournament in Madrid; hopefully he wasn't up all night fretting.

The ATP Tour missed a few chapters in its highlights package of the match. If you want to see the clean, no-smash, sanitized version, click here. Hilarious.