Tennis star Daria Egorova furiously threw her racket before her opponent kicked the umpire’s chair in shocking scenes. The Russian player was facing Argentina’s Martina Capurro in the quarter-finals of the W75 Vacaria tournament in Brazil before their battle descended into chaos.
The controversy was ignited when Egorova – who was leading the second set 4-3 – lost a point and threw her racket in frustration away from the court. Capurro instantly asked the supervisor to intervene after her opponent’s antics and claimed Egorova’s racket struck a person outside the playing area, who was reportedly a tournament official.
Capurro believed Egorova should have been immediately disqualified but officials allowed the match to continue, with the Russian eventually capturing victory 6-4, 6-4. A noticeably miffed Capurro shook her opponent’s hand at the net before showing her disdain to the umpire by kicking their chair and continuing to protest the decision to allow the match to progress.
Capurro later took to social media to explain her frustrated reaction. She wrote: “I thought I would never have to do something like this. The people who know me know that I never upload anything, never give my opinion, never talk about anything. Today, July 24, playing the quarter-finals of W75 Vacaria, something happened that I never thought would happen to me and that I have never seen in previous tournaments.
“She lost the point and threw her racket with everything she had. It went outside the court and hit a person directly, who was also a tournament official. In any other tournament, that is a direct disqualification.” Capurro aimed her wrath at the supervisor, as she slammed the explanation she received for Egorova not facing a disqualification.
Capurro continued: “The justification from the supervisor was: ‘It was not intentional and it did not cause much damage.’ I feel devastated by the situation. I hope the ITF does something about it. I will send as many letters as I have to send so that something is done about it.”