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As the match between Tallon Griekspoor and France’s Ugo Humbert got intense, the former’s fierceness resulted in one of his fast returns going just past the umpire.
Bizarre! Tallon Griekspoor’s Shot Brushes Past Umpire In Dubai Tennis Champs (Picture credit: AFP)
Dutch tennis player Tallon Griekspoor barely managed to save himself from massive embarrassment after a badly directed shot from him brushed just past the chair umpire during the Dubai Tennis Championships.
As the match between Griekspoor and France’s Ugo Humbert got intense, the former’s fierceness resulted in one of his fast returns going just past the umpire.
The deciding set between Griekspoor and Humbert thus witnessed a frightening incident, as the ball could have hit the umpire very hard. Watch the video here:
The commentators praised the umpire’s fast reflexes while highlighting a chance of her getting hurt with the shot.
“She’s dodged that well,” one of the commentators said. “Yeah, that could have been dangerous,” the other commentator added.
Griekspoor was fast enough to approach the umpire and ensure that she was fine after the incident.
Griekspoor did manage to stun fifth-seed Humbert in three sets and will now face top-seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The latter’s form has declined over the last few years. He went without a title last year, which was his first in seven years.
Griekspoor is coming off a quarterfinal finish at the Open Occitainie last month when he was stunned by Jesper de Jong in straight sets. At the Australian Open before that, he made a first-round exit after losing to 18th seed Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets.
Medvedev featured in the quarterfinal of the Qatar Open last week but gave a walkover. He lost in the semifinals of Open 13 to Hamad Medjedovic and at the Australian Open, he made a shocking second-round exit after losing to Learner Tien in a five-set thriller.
Griekspoor began his campaign in Dubai with a three-set thriller win against Roman Safiullin and followed it up with a win against Humbert on Wednesday.
Medvedev and Griekspoor have never met each other on the ATP Tour and this can be an opportunity for the latter to stun the 2021 US Open champion.
Medvedev, being the more accomplished hard-court player and the top seed will be the clear favourite to win the encounter.
