(VIDEO) Altmaier lucky escape after dangerous racket incident in Hamburg Open clash

Daniel Altmaier celebrates escaping disqualification in an unusual situation during his quarter-final match at the ATP 500 Hamburg Open. The local player was facing Tommy Paul when he threw his racket to the ground and kicked it – accidentally sending it into the crowd.

However, the action went unnoticed by the chair umpire, in what could have perfectly been interpreted as a default for the German, but ultimately he received no sanction and the situation was overlooked – only being picked up by television cameras and later on social media.

Altmaier – currently world No. 65 – had left a good impression at his home tournament after reaching the quarter-finals. He defeated Rinky Hijikata in the first round, while in the second round he produced an upset against second seed Ben Shelton, coming back from a set down (4-6, 7-6, 6-4). It was his 7th top-10 victory and first of the season.

In the quarter-finals, the duel against Paul could have perfectly ended in disqualification after Altmaier threw his racket into the crowd. Although one person among the fans managed to catch the racket before it caused an accident, situations like this have previously resulted in disqualifications, as ATP rules explicitly prohibit any reckless action that could put spectators at risk.

Despite the disqualification not occurring, the outcome was still Altmaier’s elimination. Paul was dominant from start to finish to secure a 6-2, 7-5 victory and advance to the semi-finals. The sixth seed now awaits a clash against the winner of Alex de Minaur and Luciano Darderi.

It is not the first time Altmaier has been involved in controversy. At the Rome Open in the past, Altmaier received a warning from the umpire for a particular situation after hitting his racket with his hand, while in February at the Rio Open he “gifted” a match point to his rival Dušan Lajović after speaking too early during a point in the tie-break.

For Altmaier, however, it was still a positive week in tennis terms. He once again recorded consecutive ATP-level wins for the first time since the Bucharest Open two months ago, while also climbing in the rankings to at least No. 56 by the end of the week. At Roland Garros, he will face a tough first-round challenge against fourth seed Félix Auger-Aliassime.