Two of Marc Polmans’ colleagues have defended his character after he was disqualified from the Shanghai Masters qualifying for smashing a ball into the air that hit the umpire’s face. The world No 140 was match point up in his quest to reach the main draw of a Masters 1000 event for the first time and unleashed his frustration when he dumped the ball into the net. But a fellow player and a former coach both claimed that Polmans was the “nicest guy”.
Polmans was kicked out of the qualifying tournament in Shanghai on the spot after sending a tennis ball flying into the chair umpire’s face. The Australian was 6-5 up on Stefano Napolitano’s serve in the second set tiebreak, having won the opener. But he missed a volley at the net and smashed the ball in anger.
It unintentionally made contact with the umpire, resulting in an instant default. As a result, Polmans will also lose all prize money and ranking points earned during the qualifying event, having previously won his opening match.
Two of Polmans’ colleagues have now given a glowing character reference for the 26-year-old following his outburst. Fellow Australian tennis star John Millman took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to claim that Polmans would be full of remorse for his actions.
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“Really hope the umpire is okay. They should be safe working in their environment. No excuses for this. No one would feel worse than Marc about this. He’s possibly the nicest person I know,” the former world No 33 wrote.
One of Polmans’ former coaches replied, also vouching for the world No 140. Marcel du Coudray replied: “Having coached Marc @marcpolmans for two years, I can tell you he’s the nicest guy and wouldn’t harm a fly. I know he’ll be feeling so bad for his actions and will totally own it. Of course I really hope the umpire is doing ok!”
Polmans is yet to address the incident on social media since he was disqualified from Shanghai. But another Australian player has already commented on his outburst – Nick Kyrgios.
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The former Wimbledon finalist referenced one of his own previous fines for unsportsmanlike conduct as he questioned how much Polmans would be charged following his misconduct. “Interested to see what the fine will be all things considered (15 thousand pounds) for the bottle shake at queens,” Kyrgios tweeted.
In relation to all ball abuse offences – including those that do not strike anyone – the ATP code of conduct states: “Players shall not violently, dangerously or with anger hit, kick or throw a tennis ball while on the grounds of the tournament site except in the reasonable pursuit of a point during a match (including warm-up).”
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