Mirra Andreeva was dumped out of the French Open and was hit with a code violation after smacking a ball into the stands as her frustration and emotion got the better of her
Mirra Andreeva found herself in hot water after smashing a ball into the crowd as her French Open dream ended. It earned the young Russian a code violation as she lost to world No. 361 Lois Boisson.
Andreeva, who has lost the first set, imploded after finding herself 3-0 ahead in the second set. Boisson won three games on the spin and then led 30-0 in the seventh game after an error by the sixth seed. Clearly frustrated, Andreeva angrily hammered a ball into the stands.
Members of the crowd loudly booed the teenager’s antics. Her actions landed her a code violation, with the umpire issuing a warning over her behaviour.
She told the crowd to “shut up”, burst into tears and forced her mother Raisa to leave her player’s box as her hopes of a maiden Grand Slam title went up in smoke.
Andreeva had endured a difficult day and had complained to the umpire that the crowd were being too noisy during her servesearlier in the match. After hitting a double fault during the first-set tiebreak, she called on the official to keep a lid on the noise levels.
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The teenager was then involved in another spat with the umpire. Boisson had delayed a point to challenge a call and was successful in her appeal, prompting a angry response from Andreeva. She had insisted that her shot had landed on the line, but was proven wrong by hawk-eye.
The Russian’s outburst with the ball came just a day after the men’s eighth seed, Lorenzo Musetti, was fortunate not to be disqualified after kicking a ball at a line judge. In his quarter-final against American Frances Tiafoe, Musetti booted the ball in frustration and it hit the woman in the chest.
Tiafoe looked stunned at the other end of the court and gestured towards the umpire, who eventually gave Musetti a code violation. That is despite clear comparisons with Novak Djokovic, who was defaulted at the 2020 US Open after accidentally hitting a female line judge with a ball.
Tiafoe, the 15th seed, said: “I mean, obviously he did that and nothing happened. I think that’s comical, but it is what it is. Nothing happened, so there’s nothing really to talk about. Obviously it’s not consistent, so it is what it is.”
Andreeva’s conquerer, the 22-year-old Frenchwoman who is ranked 361 in the world, has continued to defy her status and is now just one game away from a final on home soil with Coco Gauff her next opponent.