HALLE, Germany (AFP) – Spare a thought for Frenchman Marc Gicquel who went on to win his second-round tie at the ATP Halle tournament despite receiving a serve – travelling at 208 kilometres per hour – in the testicles.

The 30-year-old was in the second set of his match against German Benjamin Becker – no connection to compatriot and tennis legend Boris – when he was felled by the serve which scored a bulls-eye straight into his delicate area.

With the speed-gun showing the serve was 208 km/h, the game was stopped for ten minutes while the Frenchman had ice applied, discreetly, to his wedding tackle – in front of a 8,000-strong crowd.

In a show of brotherly solidarity, Becker went over to his pole-axed opponent to pass on his deepest – and heart-felt – sympathy.

Having won the first set 6-2, Gicquel came off the turf – to earn the respect of each and every man watching – and won the second set on a tie-breaker in what can only be described as a truly ballsy performance, which handed him a spot in the quarter-finals for his efforts.