By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday October 3, 2023
Aussie Marc Polmans has been having a solid season, rising in the rankings from well outside the Top 300 to inside the Top 150, thanks to 39 wins across all levels.
The 26-year-old was denied his 40th win in Shanghai, however, as he was disqualified from a qualifying match after hitting a ball in anger that struck the umpire in the face.
There isn’t much video of the incident, but there is more than enough here:
Il video del momento che è costato la squalifica a Marc Polmans e il conseguente ingresso di Napolitano nel main draw di Shanghai.
Fonte: https://t.co/yfPI9DeUGI pic.twitter.com/HYJxhCCX6D
— TeIegrammiDiTennis (@TelDiTen) October 3, 2023
Polman was leading Italy’s Stefano Napolitano 7-6 (3),6-6 (6-5) when he botched a volley at the net and abruptly sent the ball flying. Unfortunately the ball hit chair umpire Ben Anderson in the face. Polmans was quickly disqualified and, reportedly, Anderson is okay.
A day later, Polmans took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to apologize. “The umpire, Ben, has accepted my apology for my actions – he knows it was unintentional and I shanked the ball on the frame in frustration in the heat of the moment,” Polmans wrote. “We both move on. It was a high pressure situation and I should have reacted better.”
An update from me – the umpire , Ben, has accepted my apology for my actions – he knows it was unintentional and I shanked the ball on the frame in frustration in the heat of the moment.
We both move on.
It was a high pressure situation and I should have reacted better.— marc polmans (@marcpolmans) October 4, 2023
It had been a great season full of hope for Polmans, until then. He has never made the main draw of a Masters 1000 event.
Australian @marcpolmans has made massive improvements to his @atptour singles ranking in the past 12 months 📈
September 2022: No.782
September 2023: No.140#GoAussieshttps://t.co/qGxn8ObKJp— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) September 26, 2023
The incident was eerily similar to one involving Denis Shapovalov at Davis Cup, which saw the Canadian fire a ball that hit umpire Arnaud Gabas in the eye. Gabas had to have surgery to repair a fractured bone under his left eye.
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