The tennis player was hit in sensitive areas, hit the umpire and was disqualified

The opening round of the Challenger in Cary had a very curious course. Tennys Sandgren, the tournament’s number one seed with the iconic name Tennys Sandgren, mentally couldn’t handle the situation when he was hit in the crotch by a ball-handler with a bad throw.

Sandgren scored a break early in the match when he took advantage of a second chance on Eubanks’ serve. The fateful moment came before the American’s first serve. The TV footage doesn’t show the situation very well, especially the score graphic which hides the whole situation.

The tweet of the currently 103rd player in the world ranking and the post-match report on the official website of the tournament helped to unravel the incident. “One thing is for sure, this was entirely my fault,” Sandgren commented on his emotional speech.

Incidents where a tennis player hits an umpire and is disqualified have increased in recent years. In the Davis Cup, Canadian Denis Shapovalov had a big blink when he hit the head umpire with his accurate forehand and the match was abandoned.

The situation caused a great wave of discontent and for the then seventeen-year-old Denis it was a big slap in the face at the start of his tennis career.

Last year, the US Open journey for world number one Novak Djokovic ended in a similar incident. The Serbian phenom hit the umpire in the neck and his dream of another Grand Slam title was dashed.

Source: BBC