All players can have days when nothing quite works as it usually does; the very best in the world simply have them far less often. Today was one of those days for Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue.

The French mixed doubles pair faced Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran—ranked world number four—in the quarterfinals of the India Open Super 750. Gicquel and Delrue, themselves ranked world number five, were unable to find their rhythm at all, while the Thai pair played at incredible speed and with virtually no mistakes.

From a 9–5 lead in the opening game, the Thais went on to win 12 of the next 13 points, taking the first game 21–6 with ease. The same pattern continued in the second game, where the Thai pair quickly raced to a 5–0 lead before the French duo got on the scoreboard.

Frustration was clearly visible on the French side in the second game, both in their play and mentally. This was evident when Gicquel angrily broke a racket, and Delrue kicked a hole in an advertising board. The latter incident resulted in a red card for the French player and a point awarded to their Thai opponents.

After the match, the pair agreed that it had simply not been a good day at the office.

“It was a really bad match, nothing more to say. We didn’t play, so we got destroyed,” said Delrue.
“The next match can only be better” Gicquel added.

The French pair’s next outing will be at the Indonesia Masters Super 500 next week, where they will face Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Bøje in the first round.