Instances of tennis players disqualified for hitting someone with the ball

The latest entrant on the list is an Asian women's doubles pair after they hit a ball girl at the French Open 2023.

There have not been many instances of tennis players disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct. However, whenever it has happened, it happened at the grandest stages of all and involved some of the biggest names of world tennis. When a player is disqualified, it can be for several reasons, including, walking out, verbal abuse, and ball abuse, among many other things.

And we look at the instances where players/teams were disqualified for hitting someone with the ball.

1) Tim Henman/Jeremy Bates

The first ever instance of tennis players disqualified from a match for hitting someone with the ball in the Open Era happened with the British pair of Tim Henman and Jeremy Bates in the 1995 Wimbledon Open. It all happened as a reaction by Tim Henman after he netted the volley while playing against Henrik Holm and Jeff Tarango. Tim hit the ball in anger after losing the point, and the ball hit a ball girl, forcing the chair umpire to disqualify the former World No. 1 British pair.

Henrik Holm and Jeff Tarango progressed to the second round, where they met and lost to the eventual winners, the Australian pair of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde. Interestingly, Jeff Tarango, the benefactor in this case, was the one to be disqualified from the men's singles competition of the same tournament for shutting up the spectators and calling the chair umpire the "most corrupt official in the game.

2) Mariano Zabaleta

As was in the case of the British duo of Tim Henman and Jeremy Bates, Mariano Zabaleta was frustrated about losing a point against his opponent Adrian Voinea in the 1997 Miami Open. And so, in anger, he hit the ball, and it struck a line judge. The chair umpire disqualified the Argentine and gave the win to Adrian Voinea.

3) Denis Shapovalov

It was Davis Cup 2017 game between Canada and Great Britain. The two teams were playing for a place in the quarter-finals, and the then 17-year-old Denis Shapovalov was playing against Kyle Edmund. Team Canada needed the teenager to win to have any hopes of making it to the quarter-finals of the tournament.

However, the teen couldn't keep his nerves and let the situation get the better of him. In frustration, he blasted the ball in the face of the French official and injured him unintentionally, thus, leading to his disqualification.

4) Novak Djokovic

Frustration can get the better of anyone, even if you are one of the greatest ever to grace the tennis courts. Novak Djokovic was the next to hit a line judge with the ball unwillingly as he lost a point on serve while playing against Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open 2020. After a long chat with the officials, the Serbian was disqualified and made to lose all the ranking points he earned throughout the tournament.

Djokovic was extremely sorry and sad and apologised to the line judge whom he hurt on the throat through the ball strike.

5) Miyu Kato/Aldila Sutjiadi

The latest such incident happened in the ongoing French Open 2023. Japan's Miyu Kato and Indonesia's Aldila Sutjiadi were playing against Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo and the Czech Republic's Marie Bouzkova in the third-round match. The Asian pair were seeded 16th and had lost the first set on a tie-breaker.

Annoyed after losing a point in the second set, Kato lofted the ball towards the back of the court, hitting the ball girl. The pair were disqualified and the Japanese player apologised for her mistake.