Bizarre scenes on the Challenger Tour after world number 358 disqualified for taking a shower

ATP world number 358 Mats Rosenkranz found out the hard way that having a shower between sets leads to a disqualification. The German won the first set 7-5, but was unable to play another point at the Hersonissos Challenger 3 tournament in Greece.

This is a massive blow to Rosenkranz, who had the first chance to make a Challenger quarter-final since the end of June, and is without a title since the end of February.

Rosenkranz had won his first game after he got the better of Stefanos Tsitsipas' younger brother, Petros Tsitsipas, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5). In his next round game, he was leading a closely fought affair against Italian Pietro Fellin before he was ejected from the event.

After the first set, the 26-year-old went to take a quick shower and was back within the 120 seconds players have to proceed to the second set. Despite this, the umpire made the decision to default Rosenkranz from the tournament. He was not aware of the rules, thus making him think that it was ok to go and have a shower.

Tournament regulations prevent players from leaving the court for anything other than a legal reason. This could be a bathroom break, medical timeouts or clothing changes. Showers are not included in this, and under the strict rules, a player gets disqualified.

In the ATP rulebook, it states: "Occasionally, there are code violations by players that are not witnessed by the Chair Umpire. The Line Umpire should immediately approach the Chair Umpire and report the facts of the violation, during which time the Chair Umpire should turn off all microphones in the area of the chair."If a serious violation that may warrant an Immediate Default has been reported and acted upon no later than the end of the next changeover, the ATP Supervisor may be called to discuss an Immediate Default. The Supervisor may order the Chair Umpire to issue a code violation for a violation witnessed or not witnessed by the Chair Umpire."

This is not the first time for this to occur, with Nicolas Moreno De Alboran falling victim to the rule in an ATP Challenger Tour match in Seville back in 2022. The American had wanted to wash off some of the clay on him, but the umpire had judged that it violated tournament rules, and he faced the price. While very rare, bizarre disqualifications do occur in tennis.