Two women’s tennis players got into a tense exchange Wednesday after one of them inadvertently launched a ball into the stands.
Greek player Maria Sakkari and American Danielle Collins faced one another in the round of 32 Wednesday in the WTA’s Canadian Open. In the second set, Sakkari served and Collins returned it to begin the rally. Play was then seemingly ruled dead, so Sakkari simply knocked the ball sideways and it went into the stands. She extended her arm outward as if to apologize.
Collins wasn’t happy about the move.
“Did you just see that?” Collins asked. “Did you see what happened?”
A confused Sakkari responded.
“It didn’t even hit … It didn’t hit anyone,” she fired back. “It was on the ground.”
Things quickly escalated.
“Shut your mouth!” Collins said to her. “Shut your mouth.”
Collins then got in position to prepare for the serve, but Sakkari wasn’t done.
“What is your problem?” she asked Collins. “I didn’t hit anyone. I framed the ball and it … I didn’t hit anyone!”
The fact that no one was hit, Collins contended, was beside the point.
“You hit the ball into the stands, Maria,” she said. “You almost hit someone.”
As the exchange went on, the crowd started to get louder. The umpire then stepped and told both players to stop and resume play.
Collins went on to defeat Sakkari later in that set. She’ll face Canadian Leylah Annie Fernandez in the round of 16 on Thursday evening.
Watch above via WTA
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