Tennis
The tennis player freaked out and threw the ball at the referee’s face. What an idiotic trick!
Mark Polmans / Photo: © Frey / TPN / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru
The Australian was one rally away from victory, but could not control his nerves.
In professional tennis there are plenty of emotional players who, in case of failure, go beyond what is permitted, running into fines and warnings.
But Mark Polmans’s action, one step away from victory, stands apart. The Australian injured the referee and was immediately ejected from the court.
Australian Open semi-finalist
Australian Polmans is little known to the general tennis audience. By the age of 26, the athlete was still unable to break into the top hundred of the ATP rankings. In eight years of his professional career, the athlete made people talk about himself only once, when in 2017 he reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open together with Andrew Whittington. Since then, he has won three titles at Challenger series tournaments.
These days, Polmans tried his luck at the Masters series tournament in Shanghai, where he defeated Russian Alibek Kachmazov in the first round of qualifying in a third-set tiebreaker.
Ugly blow
In the qualifying final, Polmans met the quite passable Italian Stefano Napolitano, who ranks only 253rd in the ATP rankings. Mark won the first set in a tiebreaker, and the second set reached the 13th game, where with the score 6:5, the Australian served for the match. In a rally that could have brought him victory, Polmans went to the net, but made an unfortunate mistake, allowing his opponent to level the score.
Polmans’ disappointment was so great that he ran up to the ball as it bounced off the net and hit it with all his might. Unfortunately, the Australian’s nervous breakdown had consequences. The ball bounced off the net and hit chair umpire Renaud Lichtenstein square in the face. The referee grabbed his head and fell to the side.
Mark immediately went to apologize, but it was too late. The Australian was instantly disqualified, and this was the end of his tournament journey in Shanghai. Napolitano received a ticket to the main draw, and with it a check for $18 thousand (about 1.8 million rubles). Mark earned twice as much. But these prize money will most likely be reduced, because for such an offense the Player Code of Conduct provides for a fine, the amount of which will be determined based on the results of the proceedings. For reference, at Grand Slam tournaments you can lose $20 thousand (about 2 million rubles) just for incorrectly touching the judges, but this is a big blow.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports journalist who has written for a number of Sportish. I have a background in journalism and have been writing since I was young. My main focus is sports news, but I also write about general news. I am currently working as an author at Sportish.
Tennis
Marta Kostyuk – Elsa Jacquemot. Prediction and announcement for the Australian Open 2026 match
On January 18, Marta Kostyuk (WTA 20) – Elsa Jacquemot (WTA 58) will meet in the first round of the Australian Open.
The match will start at 03.30 Kyiv time.
Sport.ua together with a betting partner bet announcing the upcoming fight!
Marta Kostyuk
The Ukrainian has been in the news since the beginning of this year due to his amazing performance in Brisbane. Yes, Marta could not win the championship, losing to world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the final. Here I want to talk more about Kostyuk’s path to the final, she eliminated three tennis players in the top 10, Amanda Anisimova (WTA 3), Mirra Andreeva (WTA 7) and Jessica Pegula (WTA 6), and at the beginning there was a victory over the experienced Putintseva.
Such a strong performance allowed the Ukrainian player to break into the top 20. I was impressed not only by the result, but also by the confident, mature game, there were no chances here, Marta was stronger than her strong opponents.
Elsa Jacquemot
The French tennis player cannot be called a rising star; he is 22 years old; He made a breakthrough last season, climbing more than a hundred places, which allowed him to break into the top 100. This year the athlete has already dropped three places in the world rankings.
The start of the season doesn’t look very optimistic yet; Jacquemo played in Brisbane and Hobart, losing in devastating fashion on both occasions. First he lost to Australian Tomljanovic 1:6, 3:6, then to the Polish Frenchman 4:6, 0:6. It is difficult to expect an outstanding game against such weak matches. Perhaps conclusions will be drawn from defeats, but here you will have to play even against an opponent stronger than the previous ones.
To guess
The tennis players are not far apart in the rankings, only 38 places and almost the same age in years, with Marta being a year older. Despite this, Kostyuk is considered the undisputed favorite by bookmakers.
Such quotes can be explained by the fact that the Ukrainian player was impressed in Brisbane and therefore they expected a strong performance from him. I would like to point out that the tennis players have never played each other before.
Looking ahead, I will say that in the next round the best of this pair will play with the winner of the pair Putintsev – Haddad Maya. I agree that Marta is in great form, so I’m betting her to win at 1.66 with a -5.5 game handicap.
Marta Kostyuk01/18/2026 –
03:30
Elsa Jacquemot 1.66 place a bet KRAIL License No. 559 dated 12/05/2024
Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
January 18 Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina (WTA 12) The Australian Open will begin its performances in 2026.
In the 1/64 final the Ukrainian team will play against the Spanish representative Christina Buksha (WTA 51). The match will take place in the second start at John Cain Arena after the Feri-Cobolli match. The approximate start time of the match is 04:30 Kyiv time.
The best moments of tennis matches LIVE on Telegram channel Tennis on Sport.ua
This will be the first head-to-head meeting between the rivals.
The winner of the match will face Linda Klimovichova or Francesca Jones in the second round.
DAY CALENDAR
TOURNAMENT TABLE
Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
On January 17, the finals took place in the tough tournaments ATP 250 in Adelaide (Australia) and ATP 250 in Auckland (New Zealand).
Czech became champion in Adelaide Tomah Makhach (ATP 35), who made it in the final Hugo Humbert In three batches over 2 hours and 52 minutes.
Toma played the third final of his career and won his second cup. He won the 500 title in Acapulco last season.
ATP 250 Adelaide. Difficult. Final
Hugo Humbert (France) – Tomas Machac (Czech Republic) [8] – 4:6, 7:6 (7:2), 2:6
In the deciding match of the New Zealand competition Yakub Menshik beat (Czech Republic, ATP 18) Sebastian Baez (Argentina, ATP 39) in two sets in 1 hour 24 minutes.
Jakub reached the Tour final for the third time in his career and won his second trophy. He became the Masters champion in Miami in 2025.
Menshik interrupted Baez’s seven-fight hitting streak.
ATP 250 Auckland. Difficult. Final
Sebastian Baez (Argentina) [7] – Yakub Menshik (Czech Republic) [3] – 3:6, 6:7 (7:9)
Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
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