Video - Shanghai 2023: Marc Polmans Disqualified After Hitting Umpire in the Face

It's a scene no one will forget from the 2023 Shanghai Masters 1000: Marc Polmans, leading with match point in hand, cracked and in a gesture of frustration, sent a ball that hit chair umpire Ben Anderson right in the face. The verdict came immediately: disqualification, loss of points, loss of money, and a spot in the main draw that vanished in an instant.

The second round of qualifying between Marc Polmans (seeded No. 4) and Italian Stefano Napolitano (seeded No. 18) was very tight. Polmans had just won the first set 7-6 (7-3), and in the tie-break of the second set, he led 6-5, match point.

Except he missed a backhand volley, the ball came back off the net, and he struck it violently, out of frustration, toward the umpire. Result: the ball hit Ben Anderson in the face, and he was slightly injured (cheek and nose). Polmans was immediately disqualified.

Afterward, Polmans publicly apologized. In an X (formerly Twitter) post:

"The umpire, Ben, accepted my apology for my actions. He knows it wasn't intentional and that I hit the ball out of frustration, in the heat of the moment. It was a high-pressure situation, and I should have reacted better."

It's worth noting that this action is reminiscent of Denis Shapovalov's during the Davis Cup (2017).