An Australian Open ballgirl got a surprise souvenir after a rising star had a meltdown and smashed his racket

• Denis Shapovalov lost a five-set thriller to Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open quarterfinal.
• The world No. 14 lost his cool down the stretch, yelling at the umpire and smashing his racket.

One man's trash is another man's — or ballgirl's — treasure.

World No. 14 Denis Shapovalov lost a five-set thriller to tennis legend Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open quarterfinal on Tuesday. Down the stretch of the gritty, back-and-forth match, the 22-year-old Canadian lost his cool; he called the umpires "corrupt" for refusing to give the high-profile world No. 5 a time violation.

Later, upon losing a grueling final set on an unforced error, Shapovalov smashed his racket before walking off the court.

The mangled Yonex-brand racket laid untouched on the blue hard court for several moments before a young ballgirl jogged over and slyly picked it up. She gripped the white handle behind her back as if to hide the racket and then continued walking off the court.

When she made eye contact with a fellow ball kid, the ballgirl shrugged and looked directly into the camera.

Then she made her way out of frame.

The announcers loved it.

"She said 'I'll pick it up! I'll take it home with me!'" one of the announcers said on the broadcast.

Check out the lighthearted moment below:

—CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) January 25, 2022