Australian tennis player Marc Polmans experienced a moment of frustration this week during a qualifying tennis match. Polmans was just one point away from victory, but came up short in his attempt to convert the match point.
He appeared to lose his temper and seemed to hit the ball out of the court — but it ended up hitting the umpire in the face. As a result, Polmans was immediately disqualified from the Shanghai Masters qualifiers.
Polmans, ranked No. 140 in the world, was playing against Stefano Napolitano of Italy. Polmans won the first set.
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A tournament spokesperson told the Britain newspaper The Times that the umpire was "OK when he left the stadium."
Although it remains unclear whether Polmans intended to hit the umpire, the Association of Tennis Professionals' (ATP) rules state that players are not allowed to "violently" hit tennis balls.
"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)," the ATP rules state.
Fellow Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios took to social media to react to Polmans' situation.
"Interested to see what the fine will be all things considered (15 thousand pounds) for the bottle shake at queens," Kyrgios wrote.
Kyrgios was previously fined $14,000 for smashing a pair of tennis rackets during last year's U.S. Open.
Monday's incident was not the first time a tennis player was disqualified for hitting an official. Novak Djokovic was disqualified from the U.S. Open in 2020 after he appeared to accidentally hit a line judge.
Djokovic had to give up $250,000 in prize money. The 24-time Grand Slam champion was also fined $10,000.
