Ball girl's careless action interrupts point at Australian Open

(Patria) - An unusual situation occurred during the morning match between Russian tennis player Karen Khachanov and American Aleksandar Kovacevic at the Australian Open.

With the score at 6:4, 2:1 for the Russian and a break point for the American, Kovacevic's return, instead of landing on the ground, ended up in the hands of a careless ball girl.

Although the ball was clearly going out of bounds, the umpire awarded a replay of the point.

In that situation, the Russian got angry and asked her to "show him the rules".

- The ball was going out, where is that rule? - Khachanov asked.

Superb sportsmanship from Aleksander Kovacevic 👏#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/oQbI5ghPAj

— Eurosport (@eurosport) January 17, 2024

The umpire defended her decision, saying the ball "must touch the ground".

- I can't do anything until the opponent concedes the point. Do you concede the point to him? - she asked Kovacevic.

In the end, Kovacevic showed sportsmanship and conceded the point to his opponent, for which he was applauded by the Australian crowd.

Khachanov eventually won the match with a score of 6:4, 6:3, 4:6, 6:3.