Marc Polmans was disqualified from the qualifying tournament at the Shanghai Masters after furiously smashing a ball into the air which hit the umpire in the face. The world No 140 was match point up on Stefano Napolitano when he missed a volley, taking the ball and sending it flying in frustration before it made contact with the chair official.
There was drama in the qualifying tournament in Shanghai on Tuesday when fourth seed Polmans was immediately defaulted from the tournament. The Australian had a match point in the second set tiebreak at 6-5 up on Napolitano’s serve but blew it when he dumped the ball straight into the net.
In a moment of anger, the world No 140 grabbed the ball and fired it away, unintentionally striking the umpire directly in the face. With the score now 6-6 in the tiebreak Polmans was two points away from getting a spot in the main draw for what would have been his first-ever appearance at a Masters 1000.
But he was disqualified on the spot, with world No 253 Napolitano getting into the main draw as a result. It means that Polmans will also lose any prize money and ranking points he picked up during the qualifying tournament, having won his first match against Alibek Kachmazov.
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The ATP code of conduct states that players cannot hit a tennis ball in anger, even if it does not hit an official. “Players shall not violently, dangerously or with anger hit, kick or throw a tennis ball while on the grounds of the tournament site except in the reasonable pursuit of a point during a match (including warm-up),” the rule says.
“For purposes of this rule, abuse of balls is defined as intentionally or recklessly hitting a ball out of the enclosure of the court, hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly within the court or hitting a ball with disregard of the consequences.”
Polmans’ countryman Nick Kyrgios has already reacted to his disqualification on X (formerly known as Twitter). “Interested to see what the fine will be,” he wrote. Referencing one of his own past fines, he added: “All things considered (15 thousand pounds) for the bottle shake at queens.”
The default marks a bitter end to Polmans’ Asian swing after he had a positive run at the recent Zhuhai Championships. The Australian qualified for the ATP 250 event and won his opening match in the main draw before falling to Cameron Norrie.
It remains to be seen how much the ATP will fine Polmans and whether any further action will be taken. Novak Djokovic has previously been the subject of a similar disqualification as he hit a ball away in anger during the fourth round of the 2020 US Open which accidentally struck a line judge.
In 2017, Denis Shapovalov was defaulted from the Davis Cup while Canada was facing Great Britain. Then aged just 17, he also smacked a ball away in frustration which hit the umpire in the eye, requiring surgery.
