Umpire hit in face by ball as world No. 140 disqualified after match point loss
Australian tennis player Marc Polmans was disqualified from the Shanghai Masters after he brutally fired the ball towards a stricken umpire as his frustrations boiled over.
The world No. 140 was left agonising over missing a crucial volley shot while he was a match point up on his opponent in a qualifying match. With tensions running high in the the second set tiebreak against Stefano Napolitano, the 26-year-old lost his cool at a crucial moment.
The score was fixed at 6-5 at that point but his shot would hit the net following Napolitano's serve - much to his visible dismay. From there, he grabbed the ball before blasting waywardly off the court, looking on as his shot inadvertently struck the chair umpire as he watched on from his vantage point.
Unsurprisingly, it was soon deemed that Polmans would be disqualified from the competition on the spot following the incident. Duly, his punishment meant that his opponent was handed a place in the main draw in Shanghai instead, to further compound his misery.
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As a result of his actions, he was also denied his first-ever appearance at a Masters 1000 tournament, will lose any prize money and ranking points he picked up in the qualifiers. The disgruntled star had also beaten Alibek Kachmazov in his first match in Shanghai.
It is likely that Polmans will not be in much of a position to have any complaints about his disqualification from the tournament, however. In fact, the ATP rules clearly stipulate against this kind of behaviour on court at any point in the match.
Their rules read: "Players shall not violently, dangerously or with anger hit, kick or throw a tennis ball while on the grounds of the tournament site except in the reasonable pursuit of a point during a match (including warm-up).
"For purposes of this rule, abuse of balls is defined as intentionally or recklessly hitting a ball out of the enclosure of the court, hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly within the court or hitting a ball with disregard of the consequences."
Polmans' outspoken compatriot Nick Kyrgios did not hold back when giving his verdict on the disqualification on Twitter/ X. The one-time Wimbledon finalist made sure to draw attention to his own misdemeanours on court before today, when debating the value of any prospective fine.
The former top 20 player asserted: "Interested to see what the fine will be. All things considered (15 thousand pounds) for the bottle shake at Queens."
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