A nasty accident on the tennis court? (5)

I believe the answer is:

smash

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'a nasty accident' is the definition.
'smash' can be an answer for 'accident' (smash is a kind of accident). I'm not sure about the 'a nasty' bit.

I can't explain the remainder of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for smash that I've seen before include "Violently break into pieces" , "Break like a glass or cup" , "Shatter, break up" , "Break suddenly into little pieces" , "tremendous success!" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.

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