British tennis star Cameron Norrie apologized and prevented disqualification when a racquet he tossed within the air struck a spectator on the ATP Tour event in Auckland on Tuesday.
Auckland-born Norrie was going through match level in opposition to Facundo Diaz Acosta of Argentina when he flippantly tossed his racquet into the air. The racquet struck a girl in a court-side field who was unharmed.
Video of the incident confirmed a girl in a hat reacting rapidly and deflecting the racquet away as the gang gasped.
Norrie obtained a warning from the chair umpire and went on to lose 6-2, 6-3 within the first spherical of the event. He reached the ultimate in Auckland in 2023.
“I wasn’t which means to do this however it’s nonetheless not very best to be doing that and I’ve by no means executed one thing like that,” Norrie mentioned. (The spectator) “was laughing and I simply mentioned ‘so sorry, I did not imply to do this.’ And he or she mentioned ‘yeah, I am fully OK.’
“That was not an enormous deal. However as we noticed with another gamers, you’ll be able to simply be defaulted if it catches them within the incorrect spot or they don’t seem to be trying or one thing.
Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP
“I used to be not which means to do this and it’s fully not me to do one thing like that. I apologized in a short time and I wish to apologize generally. I am not proud of how I behaved.”
In keeping with ESPN, Norrie was ranked forty ninth on this planet last year and 18th on this planet in 2023.
Novak Djokovic was disqualified from the 2020 U.S. Open after unintentionally hitting a line choose with a ball and on the 2023 French Open Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi have 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.
According to the BBC, Canada’s Denis Shapovalov was defaulted for hitting the umpire with a ball throughout a 2017 Davis Cup match in opposition to Nice Britain, whereas in 2012 Argentine tennis participant David Nalbandian was disqualified at after injuring a line judge by kicking an promoting board into his shin.
