Britain's Cameron Norrie avoided disqualification for throwing his racket into the crowd during a straight-sets loss at the Auckland Classic.
Norrie vented his frustration after a poor forehand return hit the net to hand opponent Facundo Diaz Acosta a match point as the Argentine cruised to a 6-2 6-3 victory.
The spectator was hit by the racket, but not with force, and suffered no injuries, with Norrie only receiving a warning from the umpire.
Novak Djokovic was controversially disqualified from the 2020 US Open after accidentally hitting a linesman with the ball, but Stefanos Tsitsipas avoided being sent off for hitting the ball into the Wimbledon 2022 crowd in his fiery match with Nick Kyrgios.
“I didn't mean to do it, but it's still not ideal to do it and I've never done anything like that,” Norris said.
“She was laughing and I just said 'sorry, I didn't mean to do that'. And she said 'yes, I'm totally OK'.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
British star Norrie answers some of your questions
“It wasn't a big deal. But as we've seen with some of the other players, you can easily get overlooked if they get caught in the wrong spot or they're not looking or something.
“I didn't mean to do that and it's totally not me to do something like that. I apologized very quickly and I want to apologize in general. I'm not happy with how I behaved.”
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Highlights from Nori's quarterfinal loss to Kei Nishikori at the Hong Kong Open
Norrie has battled injury throughout 2024, missing the North American swing in the summer, including the US Open.
However, he got 2025 off to a good start by reaching the quarter-finals of the Hong Kong Open last week and will now head to Melbourne for the Australian Open, which starts on Sunday.
Catch the final ATP and WTA events ahead of the Australian Open this week, with tournaments in Adelaide, Hobart and Auckland live on Sky Sports Tennis. Stream Sky Sports from NOW – No contract, cancel anytime