Tennys Sandgren was defaulted from a Challenger tournament on Tuesday when he accidentally struck a line judge with a ball after himself being hit in the groin.
Sandgren, ranked 103rd in the world and top seed at the ATP Challenger event in Cary, North Carolina, was preparing to serve in the second game of the match against Christopher Eubanks.
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But he doubled over after being struck by a ball bounced to him by a ball boy.
And just to be clear, this was all totally my fault
— Tennys Sandgren (@TennysSandgren) September 15, 2021
Sandgren then swiped his racquet at the ball, which ricocheted off a fence and hit a line judge, earning him a default.
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Video footage did not show the ball striking the official but showed the American shaking hands with his opponent after the default was confirmed.
Sandgren said on Twitter he had been defaulted for hitting the line judge after being hit by a ball thrown too hard by the ball boy but took responsibility for the incident.
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“So tonight I got hit in the nuts by a ball kid’s toss with a little too much mustard,” Sandgren said.
“(I) slapped the wayward ball into the fence, which collided with a ref’s tushy as he was walking to the other side, resulting in a default.
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“How’s your evening going?”
The ball boy could be heard saying ‘sorry’ to Sandgren, who put his hand up immediately after hitting the umpire in recognition of the situation.
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Lat last year’s US Open, Novak Djokovic was defaulted for inadvertently hitting a line judge in the throat with the ball.
