Incident at Australian Open Interrupts Match
Challenging conditions at the Australian Open led to an unfortunate incident on Tuesday night when a ball girl fell ill, causing play to pause for about ten minutes.
This occurred during a first-round match at Margaret Court Arena featuring Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas, ranked No. 35, against Japan’s Shinichi Mochizuki, ranked No. 112.
Mochizuki won the first set 6-4, but Tsitsipas came back to take the second set 6-3, leveling the match.
As Mochizuki prepared to serve at the beginning of the third set, referee Thomas Sweeney intervened with a “Wait, wait.” Moments later, a reaction erupted from the crowd.
Commentator Ryan Harrison noted, “Oh, no way. The ball girl is sick. Yeah, she just felt unwell on the court. We’re going to have to pause and clean up.” He acknowledged the difficulty of the situation, remarking, “It’s hard to be here all day.”
The incident unfolded at one end of the court, close to where Tsitsipas was poised to receive serve.
Commentator John Fitzgerald mentioned that the players and referee reacted appropriately, highlighting the players’ understanding of the circumstance.
He added, “Yeah, she just started vomiting. She wasn’t feeling great. Maybe it took too much courage for her to speak up sooner.” Harrison echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the challenge ball kids face, describing their demanding physical roles in the heat during long matches.
Robbie Koenig pointed out that sometimes situations develop so quickly that ball kids hesitate to leave the court, especially in the heat of a game.
“I was present when players would offer help, but we never got that opportunity,” Harrison said.
Tsitsipas later shared that once the ball girl felt sick, she tried to suppress it, which is understandably tough under those circumstances. The Australian commentary team seemed quicker to grasp the situation compared to British broadcaster TNT Sports.
After a break of approximately ten minutes, the match resumed, with Tsitsipas ultimately winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
Reflecting on his performance, Tsitsipas told Harrison that he struggled at times to maintain focus but was pleased with the way the match concluded.
During the post-match press conference, the ball girl incident didn’t come up, unless perhaps during Tsitsipas’s interactions with Spanish-speaking reporters.
Looking ahead, Tsitsipas is set to face Tomas Machak from the Czech Republic in the second round and expressed a desire to enjoy the match against what he considers a “great opponent.”
This tournament has seen its share of unfortunate episodes, including another ball girl who fell backwards on the first day, requiring assistance after appearing dizzy. She was eventually escorted off to a standing ovation from the crowd. Moreover, several players, including No. 7 seed Félix Auger-Aliassime, faced serious health issues, with Auger-Aliassime retiring due to convulsions.
