Britain’s Harriet Dart has apologized for saying her opponent, France’s Lois Boisson, “smells really bad” during her comprehensive defeat at the Rouen Open on Tuesday.
Dart, who lost 6-0, 6-3, was captured on the broadcast asking the umpire to tell Boisson to use deodorant, during a second-set changeover.
“Can you ask her to put on deodorant? She smells really bad,” Dart was heard saying to the official as she struggled against the 21-year-old Frenchwoman in the first round.
Photo: AP
The comment sparked an immediate backlash on social media, prompting Dart to address the incident on Instagram.
“It was a comment made in the heat of the moment and I truly regret it. It’s not the way I want to behave and I take full responsibility,” Dart wrote. “I have a lot of respect for Lois and the way she competed today. I’ll learn from this and move on.”
Boisson, who was already out on court while Dart was still seated, appeared to be out of earshot when the Briton made her remark.
Boisson gave a light-hearted response. She posted a photograph on Instagram of her on court with a Dove deodorant edited into the frame above her hand, tagging the company and writing that they “apparently need a collab.”
The victory marked a stunning upset for the 303rd-ranked Boisson, making her first WTA Tour appearance of the season following injury, against the 62nd-ranked Dart, who failed to convert any of her six break points and dropped her serve four times.
Meanwhile, at the Stuttgart Open, third seeds Chan Hao-ching of Taiwan and Veronika Kudermetova of Russia lost their opening women’s doubles match 6-2, 3-6, 10-5 to Hungary’s Timea Babos and Brazil’s Luisa Stefani.
Additional reporting by staff writer, with AP
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
Alex Michelsen on Thursday rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 upset victory over third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the men’s singles, converting his seventh match point to reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open. Michelsen reached the last 16 of a Masters 1000 for the first time with his second win over a top-10 player in eight attempts. The 20-year-old American survived nearly 50 unforced errors and converted just two of nine break chances, but it was enough to vanquish Italy’s Musetti, a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist ranked 10th in the world. “It feels really good,” the 26th-ranked Michelsen said. “I’ve put
RSS