Tennis star on match point hammers ball into umpire’s face and is disqualified

A tennis star could land himself in hot water after was he disqualified from the qualifying tournament at the Shanghai Masters after smashing the ball into the face of the umpire out of frustration.

World No.140 Marc Polans was match point up against Italian Stefano Napolitano when he missed a volley and in frustration slammed the ball out of the court and straight into the face of the umpire. The Australian was leading the second set tiebreak at 6-5 against the serve.

But in a moment of rage, Polmans threw away all his good work, striking the ball in an almost golf swing fashion as it bounced back off the net towards him. The ball travelled the short distance before landing flush in the face of the umpire as Polmans sheepishly went over to check.

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Polmans was immediately disqualified and world No.253 Napolitano has now reached the main draw as a result. Polmans will also forfeit the prize money from his match against Alibek Kachmazov earlier in the qualifying tournament, and the subsequent ranking points.

The ATP conduct states that players cannot hit a tennis ball in anger, even if it does not hit an official, meaning Polmans was likely to be punished even if the ball had cleared the umpire and stands, the rule states: "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).

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"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."

It’s as yet unclear how much the ATP will fine Polmans and whether any further action will be taken. Compatriot Nick Kyrgios reacted to Polmans' disqualification on Twitter, saying: “Interested to see what the fine will be, all things considered (15 thousand pounds) for the bottle shake at queens,” in reference to one of his previous fines.

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