Former Grand Slam champion RAGES at officials in X-rated tantrum after being forced to play on in wet conditions at the Italian Open… before swearing at the crowd who booed her

Former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin railed against Italian Open officials after being forced to play on despite wet conditions – before turning her anger on spectators who booed her.

Russian-born American Kenin – who won her first ever Grand Slam at the Melbourne Major in 2020 – defeated Lucia Bronzetti 6-3, 6-2 on Wednesday, but not before embarking on an X-rated rampage across the court.

After missing a break point early in the first set, Kenin returned to her seat to complain to the referee that the surface was too wet to play on in rainy conditions.

The referee told her that ‘the pitch is not unplayable’, before the match official came to her to confirm her decision and told Kenin that play would resume and that if conditions became unsafe they would stop ‘immediately’.

But Kenin didn’t take kindly to being told to keep playing as she threw her towel on top of her tennis bag and angrily shouted: ‘F***ing dumb a** people’ before rushing back onto the court with her racket stormed.

Former Grand Slam champion Sofia Kenin launched an X-rated outburst against officials for forcing her to play on in wet conditions at the Italian Open

Kenin later said ‘f*** you’ to the crowd after they booed her for initially refusing to play

The 25-year-old wasn’t done with that yet, however, as she lashed out at the crowd – who began booing her after her initial refusal to return to the court.

After her opponent hit a shot into the net, Kenin turned and shouted, “F*** you!” – where the spectators stand behind home favorite Bronzetti.

She was later proven right in her complaints about the conditions, as play was briefly stopped a few points later due to rain.

Kenin recovered from her outburst to win in straight sets and will now face Tunisian star Ons Jabeur in the second round.

Kenin recovered to defeat Lucia Bronzetti in straight sets and book a second round match against Ons Jabeur

The Italian Open has become infamous for player booing after Andy Murray was jeered last year following his altercation with referee Mohamed Lahyani during a match with Fabio Fognini.

The Scot was furious about a ball not being whistled and protested to the officials as fans whistled for him.

After writing on Instagram: ‘Stadium full of cheering and whistling Italians, thinking I’m trying to take Fabio out of a point, all because Mo couldn’t read a number properly, cheers mate.’