French tennis player Terence Atmane fined for accidentally hitting fan with ball

PARIS: French tennis player Terence Atmane was fined $25,000 (about 23,000 euros) at Roland Garros on Friday — nearly a third of his prize money — after hitting a ball angrily and accidentally striking a spectator in the stands during his first-round loss.

Atmane, a 22-year-old with a career-best ranking of 120th, smacked a ball over the wall into the seats behind the opposite baseline at 492-capacity Court 12 after losing a point in the fourth set of his French Open match against Sebastian Ofner of Austria.

Ofner wound up winning 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2, 7-5 on Sunday, Day 1 of the Grand Slam tournament.

A player who loses in the opening round at the French Open earns 73,000 euros — about $80,000 — in prize money. Atmane’s fine is by far the largest of the 10 handed out so far to women and men during the clay-court event. Agencies

Also Read: Italian Open: Novak Djokovic loses to Alejandro Tabilo at Rome Masters

Also Watch: