Marc Polmans has issued a statement after he was disqualified from the qualifying event at the Shanghai Masters for smashing a ball into the umpire’s face. The Australian squandered a match point to qualify for his first-ever Masters 1000 event and sent the ball flying in frustration. He has now apologised, offering to buy the official a coffee.
Polmans was defaulted at 6-6 in the second set tiebreak during his second-round qualifying match against Stefano Napolitano. The world No 140 had already taken the first set 7-6(3) and failed to make a volley on match point when he unleashed his anger, with chair umpire Ben Anderson taking the blow.
In a new statement, the 26-year-old confirmed that he had apologised to Anderson and confirmed that the impact was unintentional. Taking to Instagram, Polmans wrote: “An update from me – the umpire, Ben, has accepted my apology for my actions – he knows it was unintentional and I shanked the ball on the frame in frustration in the heat of the moment.”
The Australian also had an unusual offering for the umpire, confirming he would be buying Anderson a coffee in apology. “We both move on. It was a high pressure situation and I should have reacted better,” he added.
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“I look forward to shouting Ben a coffee next time we meet.” Some of Polmans’ colleagues have jumped to defend his character since he was defaulted, and renowned coach Sven Groenevold also sent his support to the world No 140 in response to his statement.
“We all know you would never mean to hit anybody let alone an official! Hang in there and an apology is all you can do at the moment, take lessons that come with it and thank god the umpire is fine,” he replied. Following the incident on Tuesday, fellow Australian tennis star John Millman also vouched for Polmans.
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The former world No 33 wrote: “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.”
And one of Polmans’ former coaches – Marcel du Coudray – added: “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!”
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