There are a number of methods for tennis players to react to missing a volley on match point. Marc Polmans committed a foul that resulted in his disqualification from the match.
The Australian national was eliminated from a qualifier for the Shanghai Masters on Monday after striking chair umpire Ben Anderson in the face with a ball he threw at the net in anger. Instead of Polmans, his opponent Stefano Napolitano advanced to the main draw.
At the decisive moment, Polmans had a 7-6 (7-3), 6-6 (6-5) advantage. He was one point away from winning the second-set tiebreaker and winning the match in consecutive sets, but he missed a volley at his ankles, tying the score at 6-6.
Frustrated, Polmans struck the ball up and to his left, which was the worst possible direction.
Anderson exited the stadium with an ice pack on his nose and cheek, according to The Times. Polmans was disqualified promptly after leading a set and being only two points away from victory.
It is unknown whether Polmans will face additional repercussions for the incident. The ATP ranks the 26-year-old at No. 140 in the world, and he has won three titles on the ATP Challenger Tour.
Regardless, the development will be costly for Polmans, as he would have earned $18,660 just by qualifying for the first round in Shanghai, not a small sum for a player who has spent his entire career outside of the ATP top 100 in singles. His first-round opponent would have also been a qualifier, and a victory would have earned him $30,855 in prize money. Additionally, he would have received crucial ranking points.
In contrast, he is not hired.
This type of behavior is not uncommon in tennis, a sport where frustration is common and the ball is frequently used as an outlet. The most notorious instance in recent history was when world No. 1 Novak Djokovic was disqualified from the 2020 US Open for striking a line judge with a ball. There was also the time Alexander Zverev was disqualified for smashing his racket against the chair of the chair umpire.
A similar incident occurred in the 2017 Davis Cup, when Canada’s Denis Shapovalov struck the chair umpire after losing a point, costing his team a first-round victory against Great Britain. The umpire wasn’t as fortunate as Anderson, as he required surgery to repair a fractured orbital bone in his left eye.
