Tennis caught up in new recklessness squabble as world number 8 Maria Sakkari is told to ‘shut up’ after she slammed the ball into stands, months after a player was disqualified for hitting a ball girl
Maria Sakkari and Danielle Collins collided on court as tennis was embroiled in another debate over player recklessness.
World No. 8 Greek Sakkari was stopped by her American opponent at the Canadian Open in Montreal after she hit a ball into the audience.
Early in the second set, Sakkari smashed the ball into the ground and bounced into the stands.
She quickly held up an apologetic hand to the spectators, but Collins was unwilling to let the matter rest and asked the chair umpire, “Did you just see that?” Did you see what happened?’
Sakkari, preparing for her second serve, replied, ‘It didn’t even hit anyone. It was on the floor.’
Maria Sakkari and Danielle Collins became embroiled in a row at the Canadian Open after the Greek player (front shot) hit a ball into the stands (ball visible on the right side of the field)
Sakkari quickly apologized to the onlookers, but her opponent, Danielle Collins, was unwilling to let the matter rest.
Sakkari, the number 8 in the Greek world, protested that she hit the ball into court to slow it down
Collins rightly responds, “Shut up, shut up.”
That only caused the argument to escalate, with Sakkari asking, “What’s your problem?” I didn’t hit anyone. I framed the ball.’
Collins was unwilling to back down, saying, “You hit the ball into the stands, Maria.” You almost hit someone.’
Sakkari then reiterates that she didn’t hit anyone and claims she deliberately hit the ball into the court to slow it down.
As the crowd becomes more animated, the referee manages to calm things down. Collins went on to win the round of 32 game 6-4, 6-2 and the two players finally shook hands.
Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg, who shared the clip on X, said: ‘I agree with Collins here – the officials need to be a lot tougher on players recklessly hitting the ball and throwing rackets into the stands.
“Shouldn’t look the other way, that’ll happen.”
Sakkari was not happy that her opponent Collins accused her of recklessness
Collins told Sakkari to “shut up” as the argument escalated during the second set
Sakkari didn’t see what the problem was and said she didn’t hit any of the spectators
There was an amicable end after Collins claimed victory in straight sets to reach the last 16
It came two months after a women’s doubles pair was disqualified from the French Open after a ball girl was punched and left in tears.
Japanese player Miyu Kato fired a shot across the court that hit the ball girl on the shoulder.
She was initially cautioned by the referee, but a protest from opponents Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo led to the match being abandoned, with Kato and her Indonesian partner Aldila Sutjiadi disqualified despite attempting to plead their innocence.
Kato tried to comfort the ball girl and apologized before the Japanese-Indonesian couple pleaded with officials that it was not an intentional act. The ball girl was led off the field by officials.
When umpire Alexandre Juge confirmed the disqualification, Kato herself burst into tears.
During the discussions, an official compared the incident to Novak Djokovic’s disqualification from the 2020 US Open after he hit a line judge in the throat with the ball.
“If you hit someone and they are injured, you are responsible for that action,” the official said. “Even if you don’t mean it, you’re still responsible for that action.”
A ball girl was left in tears at the French Open after being stabbed on the shoulder by a shot from Japan’s Miyu Kato between points – leading to the disqualification of Kato and her partner
The ball can be seen just to the left of the field flying towards the ball girl on the bottom left
Kato went over to comfort the youngster but to no avail as they were disqualified