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In Accra, a controversial episode took place on the tennis court. During the ITF Junior tournament held in the Ghanaian city, there was a challenge between the number one of the draw, the French Michael Kouame, and the local tennis player, Raphael Nii Ankrah.
At the end of the match, the Frenchman gave birth to a shocking scene: probably due to his unexpected defeat, the seed number one slapped his opponent. The gesture did not go unnoticed by the crowd present to see the match: in a video of just a few seconds, you can also see the beginning of a fight between the parties.
Players involved obviously, but also staff members who tried to divide the two sides. The gesture was condemned by all public opinion: scenes like this do not conform to a sport like tennis. The criticisms, however, did not concern only the slap, but also the lack of consequences of this gesture.
Patrick McEnroe's tweet
This is the case of Patrick McEnroe, who criticized the ATP and the President Andrea Gaudenzi. The American wrote: "Do you think ATP Tour's lack of action means nothing? Think again." The criticism concerns the lack or the slight extent of the sanctions that the ATP has undertaken in recent years.
This criticism, however, had a preliminary response from the ATP. The Reuters news agency took up the words of Andrea Gaudenzi about a change of course by the ATP regarding unsportsmanlike conduct: "With immediate effect, the refereeing team of the ATP was ordered to take a tougher position when judging violations of the code of conduct." This is the organization's response to the frequent episodes of unsportsmanlike conduct this season: from Alexander Zverev in Acapulco to Nick Kyrgios, passing through Jenson Brooksby who, in his match against Federico Coria, threw a racket that almost hit a ball boy.
You think lack of action by @atptour doesn’t mean anything?
Think again https://t.co/jklj7LbP1x — Patrick McEnroe (@PatrickMcEnroe) April 5, 2022
What happened
At the ITF Junior tournament in Accra in Ghana, at the end of the match, the French number one in the seeding Michael Kouame, who was defeated against the local tennis player Raphael Nii Ankrah, after waving his opponent normally, then slapped the latter.
The unjustified reaction of the Frenchman and absolutely to be condemned also caused a fight on the pitch between those present.
Definitely not a good image for this sport. A brawl between the parties also broke out later.
It was a very difficult three months for the ATP Tour, amidst controversy and controversy on the court, which saw scenes and gestures of madness, as happened also in Acapulco with Alexander Zverev. There will certainly be some changes to the rules of conduct that players will have to maintain on the court.