Australian tennis player Marc Polmans (26) caused a shocking moment in the final round of the Shanghai Masters when he hit a ball into referee Ben Anderson’s face out of frustration after missing a match point.
The reaction was immediate: Polmans was disqualified, but fortunately Anderson was apparently uninjured.
Polmans commented on the short message service X after the incident: “An update from me – the referee Ben has accepted my apology for my unacceptable behavior. (…) It was a pressure situation and I should have reacted better.”
In addition to the disqualification, the tennis player will be deprived of all prize money and ranking points collected during the tournament.