AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Renowned British tennis player Cameron Norrie found himself in a bit of a pickle at the ATP Tour event in Auckland on Tuesday, as he issued an apology to a spectator after his racquet, tossed lightly in the air, inadvertently struck a fan in the crowd.
In a tense moment during his match against Argentina’s Facundo Diaz Acosta, Norrie caught the unfortunate break while facing match point. The racquet made contact with a woman seated in a courtside box, though thankfully, she was unharmed.
Despite being issued a warning by the chair umpire, Norrie went on to lose the match with a score of 6-2, 6-3 in the opening round. He previously made it to the finals in Auckland back in 2023.
Reflecting on the incident, Norrie stated, “It was unintentional, but it was also not the best move on my part. I’ve never done anything like that. The spectator was laughing, and I quickly said, ‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to do that,’ to which she replied, ‘I’m completely okay.’”
He added, “Thankfully, it wasn’t a big deal. However, we’ve seen others in situations where a moment like this could easily lead to disqualification if it were to hit someone unexpectedly or in a sensitive area.”
“I assure you, that behavior is not characteristic of me. I apologized right away and feel the need to express my apologies again. I was not pleased with how I handled things.”
To put things in perspective, it’s worth noting that Novak Djokovic faced disqualification from the 2020 US Open after he accidentally struck a line judge with a ball. Similarly, during the 2023 French Open, duo Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi were defaulted from the women’s doubles event after Kato’s ball hit a ball girl.
In another instance from 2023, Australian player Marc Polmans received a disqualification in the final qualifiers at the Shanghai Masters after unintentionally hitting a ball that struck the chair umpire in the face.
