Australian player apologises for hitting umpire after losing match point
Australian ATP player Marc Polmans has released a statement after he was disqualified for hitting the umpire during his final qualification match at the Shanghai Masters.
Polmans, who is ranked at No.140, had beaten Russian Alibek Kachmazov to set up a final qualifying match against world No.253 Stefano Napolitano.
The Aussie had never reached the main draw of an ATP Masters 1000 event before and made a good start after winning the first set, 7-6(3).
It was a similar story in the second set, that also went to a tie-break, with Polmans up 6-5 and only one point away from reaching the main draw in Shanghai.
However, after being unable to convert his match point opportunity Polmans smashed the ball into umpire Ben Anderson’s face and was disqualified as a consequence.
Despite the controversy, Polmans has been shown support from former US Open quarter-finalist and compatriot John Millman, “Really hope the umpire is okay. They should be safe working in their environment. No excuses for this. No one would feel worse than Marc about this. He’s possibly the nicest person I know.”
Really hope the umpire is okay. They should be safe working in their environment. No excuses for this.
No one would feel worse than Marc about this. He’s possibly the nicest person I know. https://t.co/vqaj9HTyl1
— John Millman (@johnhmillman) October 3, 2023
And now Polmans has spoken out about the incident on social, revealing that he has cleared things up with the umpire.
“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,” said Polmans. “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
As a result of Polmans’ disqualification, Napolitano enters the main draw of the Shanghai Masters for the first time in his career and will play fellow qualifier Beibit Zhukayev in the first round tomorrow.
Inside the baseline…
It is clear in this situation that Polmans should not have reacted in the way that he did to missing that volley. However, his actions after the disqualification have shown that he has taken some accountability and the words of John Millman give the indication that this was out of character for the 26-year-old.
Join >> 