After being disqualified in Shanghai, Marc Polmans apologises for hitting umpire Ben Anderson in the face with ball

It was one of those unfortunate – and inexcusable – incidents that makes you squirm when you watch it. Marc Polmans, playing well and closing in on his first Masters 1000 main draw, flew off the handle, and the rest was history.

On Tuesday in Shanghai, Polmans was disqualified for smashing a ball in anger into umpire Ben Anderson’s face, during a qualifying match with Italy’s Stefanos Napolitano. The Aussie was angry after missing a volley on match point – a brutal and sad way for a qualifying run to end (he has never played a Masters 1000 main draw).

His day ended in defeat 7-6, 6-6 RET after two hours and 33 minutes…

Polmans: I should have reacted better

Reportedly the umpire suffered no serious injury.

Polmans took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to apologise for his actions on Wednesday.

“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,” Polmans wrote.
We both move on. It was a high pressure situation and I should have reacted better.”

Eerily similar to Shapovalov’s run-in with a Arnaud Gabas

It’s not the first time we’ve seen a player hit a ball into an umpire’s face unfortunately. In 2017 during a Davis Cup tie with Great Britain, Canadian Denis Shapovalov struck a ball in anger that hit umpire Arnaud Gabas in the face. Gabas suffered worse injuries than Anderson, and wound up needing surgery to repair a fractured bone under his left eye.

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