Picture Credit: X
On May 26, Sunday, the Frenchman Terence Atmane hit the ball into a spectator in frustration during the round one match against Sebastian Ofner of Austria at the French Open. The 22-year-old managed to avoid disqualification after the chair umpire and a tournament referee gave him a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct, which didn’t impress his opponent one bit.
The incident happened at the Court 12 with a sitting capacity of 492 people when Terence Atmane was in the midst of blowing up his two set lead against Sebastain Ofner. After losing a point in the fourth set, he smacked a ball over the wall into the seats behind the opposition baseline, which hit the female fan sitting there.
It led to the play getting delayed for 15 minutes, in which the chair umpire and a tournament referee talked to the female fan before deciding what sort of action to take against Terence Atmane if at all.
After there was no action taken against Terence Atamane except for a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct, an unhappy Sebastain Ofner pushed himself to the absolute limit in the match. He went on to advance through to the second round after registering a 3-6, 4-6, 7-6(7-2), 6-2, 7-5 win as the clock ticked past midnight.
Following the end of the match, Sebastain Ofner spoke about the incident and said, “For me, it was a bit surprising, because if you do something like that on a small court, you have to be punished, you know? Because it’s not like you hit the ball normally. It was full power. The ball was so fast. Straight in the crowd. There were people disqualified for less.”
Here is the clip of Terence Atmane hitting spectator in frustration at French Open:
