‘Not how we talk’: Rising star whacked for fresh ball boy outburst
Updated . First published
Rising Spanish tennis star Rafael Jodar has again found himself in hot water following an outburst at a ball boy at the Shanghai Masters.
Early in the second set of his third-round match against Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, Jodar had just missed what should have been a simple passing winner when the ball kid at the back of the court was apparently slow to bring him a towel.
Rafael Jodar was hit with a code violation for a sweary outburst at a ball boy. TennisTV
On-court mics captured him saying in Spanish: "Dame la puta toalla, coño!", which roughly translates to "give me the bloody towel, for f---s sake!"
Unfortunately for the world No.13, the chair umpire was Jimmy Pinoargote, who is from Ecuador, where Spanish is the national language.
Pinoargote heard Jodar's outburst and hit him with a code violation, which triggered a back-and-forth in Spanish where Jodar tried to plead his innocence.
“He’s not listening to me, mate, I’m talking to him… And I haven’t said anything wrong. Good grief,” Jodar said.
Pinoargote then told him in future to tell him if he’s got a problem with the ball kids, and he would “sort it out”, before finishing with a stern warning.
"That’s not how we talk to them."
Having lost the first set, Jodar went on to win 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2. He will next play Norweigian Casper Ruud.
It’s the second time in a matter of months Jodar has been in the middle of a controversy involving a ball kid.
At Roland-Garros in May, Jodar was accused of pushing a ball girl out of the way during his third-round win over Alex Michelsen.
Footage of the incident looked as if Jodar had shoved her as he tried to exit the court between sets. He had just pelted a water bottle into his box.
Rafael Jodar in action against Botic van de Zandschulp. AP Photo/Andy Wong
The girl briefly lost her footing before regaining her balance. It was unclear if there was contact – Jodar later claimed he was gesturing to someone in his box at the same time he walked past the girl.
“I didn’t touch her,” he said after the match. “No, no, no. I could never do that.
“I was telling my dad to give me the things that he was going to give me after a toilet break when I was coming back.
“She was in the middle, so I think she was trying to get out of the way. She was going backwards, but I think she, like, fell, but not because I push(ed) her.”
Jodar denied making contact with a ball girl at Roland-Garros. Twitter
Jodar suggested she might have got her feet caught in the court covers.
Jodar has put the tennis world on notice on the ATP Tour this year, having gone deep at several masters tournaments.
In August, he became just the third teenager to reach the quarterfinal at three or more consecutive Masters 1000 tournaments. It’s an exclusive club featuring fellow Spaniards Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal. He turned 20 in September.
