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Australian tennis player Marc Polmans has been disqualified from the Shanghai Masters during qualifying after whacking a tennis ball and hitting the chair umpire.<\/p>\n
Polmans, 26, vented his frustration while on the cusp of victory and reaching the main draw in the ATP 1000 event. He hit a ball in anger while leading Italian Stefano Napolitano 7-6 (7-3), 6-6.<\/p>\n
The Australian world No.140 appeared to be attempting to hit a ball out of the court, but instead it hit the umpire sitting in an elevated position above the court.<\/p>\n
Tennis officialdom comes down heavily on players for incidents which threaten the safety umpires, lines people or ball boys.<\/p>\n
Australian tour veteran John Millman said there were \u201cno excuses\u201d for player indiscretions but said Polmans would be extremely remorseful.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally hope the umpire is okay. They should be safe working in their environment. No excuses for this,\u201csaid Millman on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one would feel worse than Marc about this. He\u2019s possibly the nicest person I know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s grand slam record holder champion Novak Djokovic was famously disqualified from the 2020 US Open in the fourth round after he inadvertently hit a line judge in the throat with a ball smacked in anger.<\/p>\n
At the time, the Serbian held 17 major titles but now has 24. Djokovic returned to Flushing Meadows in New York on the verge of claiming the grand slam in 2021 but missed it after losing the final to Russian Daniil Medvedev.<\/p>\n
Djokovic apologised to US Open officials after his indiscretion three years ago.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Novak Djokovic and the linesperson incident in 2020.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cThis whole situation has left me really sad and empty,\u201d he said at the time. \u201cI checked on the lines person and the tournament told me that thank God she is feeling ok. I\u2019m extremely sorry to have caused her such stress. So unintended. So wrong.<\/p>\n \u201cAs for the disqualification, I need to go back within and work on my disappointment and turn this all into a lesson for my growth and evolution as a player and human being,\u201d Djokovic added. \u201cI apologise to the US Open tournament and everyone associated for my behaviour.\u201d<\/p>\n