It's 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟𝐟 at Roland-Garros! Terence Atmane hits a spectator out of frustration... 😤 Ofner wants him disqualified... ⛔️ After much deliberation with the umpire and supervisor, he gets a warning instead ⚠️ #RolandGarros
"This gesture was not intentional, so please forgive me for my emotional outburst” Terence Atmane addresses controversial incident at French Open
ATPTuesday, 28 May 2024 at 23:00
Terence
Atmane has spoken out about the controversial incident where he hit a fan
during his French Open match. The 22-year-old French player lost to Austria's
Sebastian Ofner in a tightly contested match that ended with a comeback by
Ofner, 3-6, 4-7, 7-6(2), 6-2, 7-5.
Atmane was
a break up in the third set and seemed on course for victory, but Ofner's
resilience pushed Atmane to the limit. During the third set, Atmane expressed
his frustration by hitting a ball into the crowd, which unfortunately struck a
spectator.
Controversy marks Atmane's Debut
After
Atmane hit the ball into the crowd, the match was halted for nearly 15 minutes.
Ofner demanded Atmane's disqualification for misconduct, as stipulated by the
rules, but the umpire and supervisor decided to issue only a warning to the
local player.
Atmane's
conduct went viral on social media, sparking negative reactions from fans and
some fellow players. The Frenchman recently posted an apology on social media:
"Hello, Good evening. Just to come back to what happened last night
regarding the mini drama I'm facing: After losing the 3rd set and leading 4/1
in the 4th, Sebastian saves a break point and just as he sends the ball back to
me I have a moment of frustration and decide to send the ball into the net out
of frustration," Terence Atmane said.
"Problem:
I broke my string at the same moment and found myself watching my ball cross
the court and go straight into the leg of a spectator... Of course, my first
instinct would have been to go and apologize, but I was so shocked and
disoriented by my action that no reaction came to mind... like a blackout where
my brain switches off and I can't think of anything else - anything," he
added.
Atmane was just giving a warning instead of being defaulted.
"I'm
working very hard on myself mentally and people who know me know that I've made
enormous progress in terms of frustration and stress management, even if I'm
far from perfect. Stress that 6 months ago was causing me to lose between 4 and
6kg per tournament," Atmane said.
Atmane
stated that his actions were unintentional and that he hopes to apologise to
the woman who was hit by the ball: "This gesture, which I'm sure you've
seen on the media, was not intentional, so please forgive me for my emotional
outburst and, above all, I'd like to apologize personally to the lady I'm
currently looking for with my agent and the tournament organizers, so that I
can tell her straight to her face and offer her one of my signed rackets (if
she accepts the offer, of course)," Terence Atmane said.
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