World No.50 Cameron Norrie is facing backlash after avoiding disqualification in extraordinary scenes at Auckland’s ASB Classic.
Norrie, 29, was underwhelming in his 6-2 6-3 first-round loss against Argentina’s Facundo Díaz Acosta.
However, a bizarre incident shocked the tennis world when Norrie accidentally threw his racquet into the crowd.
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Having just blasted a forehand into the net down 2-6 3-5, the 2021 Indian Wells Masters champion was fortunate not to injure any spectators when his racquet ended up in the stands.
Despite the seriousness of the matter, Norrie escaped with a warning from the chair umpire.
After the match, the Brit explained what happened.
"I wasn’t meaning to do that but it’s still not ideal to be doing that and I’ve never done something like that," Norrie said.
"[The spectator] was laughing, and I just said, ‘So sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.’ And she said, ‘Yeah, I’m completely okay.’
"That was not a big deal. But as we saw with some other players, you can easily be defaulted if it catches them in the wrong spot or they’re not looking or something.
"I was not meaning to do that and it is completely not me to do something like that. I apologised very quickly and I want to apologise in general. I’m not happy with how I behaved."
As fans watched on in disbelief, one fan on social media wrote: "Why was he not immediately ejected from the match?"
"Honestly, what is going on with those players?!? This is a disqualification. That needs to stop, behaviour is terrible," a separate comment read.
Another fan added: "How is he not immediately disqualified? Umpire sleeping."
It brought flashbacks to Novak Djokovic’s infamous disqualification at the 2020 US Open for accidentally hitting a lineswoman with a ball.
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