Spanish tennis player Jodar apologises for swearing at ball boy

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 16 Oct, 13:33 · Archive

Rafael Jodar swore at a ball boy during a Shanghai Masters match and was warned by the umpire before apologising.

Rafael Jodar swore at a ball boy while asking for a towel during his last-16 match against Botic van de Zandschulp at the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday. The 20-year-old Spanish player, ranked 13th in the world, was penalised for the outburst early in the second set by chair umpire Jimmy Pinoargote of Ecuador, who issued him a code violation warning for unsportsmanlike conduct.

During the exchange with the umpire, Jodar initially attempted to argue against the warning. According to the Daily Mail Sport, he claimed he had 'said nothing bad' to the ball boy. However, the umpire responded that he could not repeat what Jodar had said and warned him that they do not speak to ball boys that way.

After progressing to the quarter-final with a win over Casper Ruud on Friday, Jodar accepted he had made a mistake and apologised. 'I shouldn't have done that to the ball kid. It was my mistake,' he said. 'I was very frustrated because of how the match was going for me. I couldn't control my emotions at that point of the match. I'll try not to do it again, because that's not the right way to treat the ball kids.' This incident comes months after Jodar faced controversy in May over allegations of pushing a ball girl at Roland-Garros, which he had denied.

How it is being reported

• Spanish tennis star Rafael Jodar apologises after swearing at ball kidThe 20-year-old accepted he made a mistake after swearing at a ball kid while asking for a towel during his last-16 win over Botic van de Zandschulp on WednesdayIndependent Sport · 16 Oct, 13:11
• Tennis star who denied shoving a ball girl is now caught abusing a ball boy in f-word row over a TOWEL - before getting a dressing down from umpire and claiming 'I said nothing wrong'Rafael Jodar has been involved in another ugly incident, with the Spanish tennis star caught swearing at a ball boy. Footage of the immediate aftermath of the incident went viral online.Daily Mail Sport · 14 Oct, 14:29

In this story: Rafael Jodar · Jimmy Pinoargote · Botic van de Zandschulp · Casper Ruud · Shanghai Masters · Shanghai

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem