British tennis star Cameron Norrie apologized and averted disqualification when a racquet he tossed within the air struck a spectator on the ATP Tour match in Auckland on Tuesday.
Auckland-born Norrie was going through match level towards Facundo Diaz Acosta of Argentina when he evenly tossed his racquet into the air. The racquet struck a lady in a court-side field who was unharmed.
Video of the incident confirmed a lady in a hat reacting rapidly and deflecting the racquet away as the group gasped.
Norrie acquired a warning from the chair umpire and went on to lose 6-2, 6-3 within the first spherical of the match. He reached the ultimate in Auckland in 2023.
“I wasn’t that means to do this however it’s nonetheless not ultimate to be doing that and I’ve by no means carried out one thing like that,” Norrie stated. (The spectator) “was laughing and I simply stated ‘so sorry, I did not imply to do this.’ And she or he stated ‘yeah, I am utterly OK.’
“That was not a giant deal. However as we noticed with another gamers, you possibly can simply be defaulted if it catches them within the unsuitable spot or they are not wanting or one thing.
Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP
“I used to be not that means to do this and it’s utterly not me to do one thing like that. I apologized in a short time and I wish to apologize basically. I am not pleased with how I behaved.”
In accordance with ESPN, Norrie was ranked forty ninth on the planet final 12 months and 18th on the planet in 2023.
Novak Djokovic was disqualified from the 2020 U.S. Open after by accident hitting a line decide with a ball and on the 2023 French Open Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi had been defaulted from the ladies’s doubles after a ball hit by Kato struck a ball woman.
Additionally in 2023, Australian tennis participant Marc Polmans was defaulted from the ultimate spherical of qualifying on the Shanghai Masters after hitting a ball into the face of the chair umpire.
In accordance with the BBC, Canada’s Denis Shapovalov was defaulted for hitting the umpire with a ball throughout a 2017 Davis Cup match towards Nice Britain, whereas in 2012 Argentine tennis participant David Nalbandian was disqualified at after injuring a line decide by kicking an promoting board into his shin.