Fuming tennis star kicks racket into crowd and risks disqualification | Tennis | Sport

Daniel Altmaier lost his composure and kicked his racket into the crowd during Thursday’s Hamburg Open defeat against Tommy Paul. Altmaier lost in straight sets to the American, having originally come through matches against Rinky Hijikata and Ben Shelton to make it to the quarter-final.

It wasn’t to be though, but during a moment of madness, the television cameras captured Shelton booting his racket towards members of the crowd. The German had initially smacked it into the floor during a fit of rage, before swinging his right foot at it and sending it into the air.

When it began hurtling towards the supporters packed into the venue, Altmaier sprinted over with his arms apologetically in the air. Thankfully for all involved, there wasn’t much pace on the kick, meaning the racket was caught by the onlooking fans.

One quickly threw it back towards Altmaier, who once again made it abundantly clear he was sorry for kicking it into the stands. However, despite the outburst, Altmaier wasn’t penalised by the officials, with the 27-year-old escaping a default.

It’s safe to say that fans were not happy with the decision, as @Certinfy said on social media: “One of the most obvious defaults I’ve ever seen in any sport. Dear God at the officials letting this slide.”

@ClairClair211 said: “Should have been an immediate DQ imo dangerous.”

Meanwhile, @Elena22997490 wrote: “Our poor tennis kids would have gotten a code violation for this … and this dude didn’t get anything??? Disgusting…”

It wasn’t that Altmaier didn’t fit the criteria for a rulebreak, given the ATP rules regarding racket abuse state: “Players shall not violently, dangerously or with anger hit, kick or throw a racket or other equipment within the precincts of the tournament site.

“For purposes of this rule, abuse of rackets or equipment is defined as intentionally, dangerously and violently destroying or damaging rackets or equipment or intentionally and violently hitting the net, court, umpire’s chair or other fixture during a match out of anger or frustration.”

It would appear that because Altmaier’s racket didn’t injure anybody, he was given the insanely lucky benefit of the doubt. Regardless, Paul will play Alex de Minaur in the first semi-final, with the victor taking on either Aleksandar Kovacevic or Ignacio Buse.