AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — A tennis match at the ASB Classic turned into a heated spat between two players today after Naomi Broady accused Jelena Ostapenko of deliberately throwing her racket and hitting a ball boy.
Ostapenko was running for a shot during the second-set tiebreak when her racket flew out of her hand, hit the back wall and then hit a ball boy on the shoulder.
Broady immediately protested to chair umpire Blaze Trifunobski that Ostapenko should be disqualified. The ball boy was summoned and questioned by the umpire as the British player protested to Trifunobski, then to tour supervisor Tony Cho.
Ostapenko said the racket had slipped from her hand and had hit the ball boy accidentally. The Latvian avoided disqualification but was issued with a code violation.
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