Advertisement

'Nearly killed': Tennis fans in shock over scary ball girl accident

The ball girl, pictured here almost being crushed after the umpire's chair collapsed.
The ball girl was almost crushed after the umpire's chair collapsed. Image: Twitter

A ball girl has narrowly avoided catastrophe in Spain after an umpire's chair blew over in the wind and almost crushed her.

Nikola Milojevic was playing Eduard Esteve Lobato at the Gran Canaria Challenger in Las Palmas when the scary accident occurred.

WOW: Nick Kyrgios moves in to Rita Ora after messy split

'HARD TO FATHOM': Tennis world stunned by 'shocking' scenes

After the umpire came down to check a mark on the clay court, his chair collapsed and toppled over in high winds.

A ball girl was standing directly beneath the chair and had to jump out of the way to avoid being crushed.

The young girl was left sprawled on the court in shock right next to where the chair had come crashing down.

Players and officials immediately rushed to the girl's assistance, with someone heard asking if she was okay.

“Yes, yes, yes," she replied.

Someone then asked: “Did it hit you?”

To which the girl responded: “Almost.”

The ball girl, pictured here looking shaken after narrowly avoiding disaster.
The ball girl was shaken up after narrowly avoiding the falling chair. Image: Twitter

The girl was then escorted off the court for further medical assistance.

Fans were left shaken by the horrifying scenes on social media.

After the match resumed, Esteve Lobato claimed a straight-sets victory 7-6 6-3.

The Spaniard will play Italy’s Giulio Zeppieri in the quarter-finals.

Benoit Paire condemned over 'disgraceful' display

It was an eventful day in the tennis world, with Frenchman Benoit Paire docked a point for spitting and appearing to tank the final game of his loss at the Argentina Open.

The World No.29, seeded third in Buenos Aires, lost 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 against 22-year-old World No.137 Francisco Cerundolo, crashing out of the tournament in disgrace.

He was left incensed when the umpire failed to overturn an ace from Cerundolo in the second set.

Paire asked the chair umpire to come down an inspect the mark, with Paire believing the ball had landed wide of the centre service line.

But he blew up deluxe when the umpire told him the mark was on the line, spitting angrily on the mark and shouting obscenities before being given a warning by Spanish umpire Nacho Forcadell.

Although he won the next point to break back, Paire was docked a point a couple of games later after again spitting and arguing with Forcadell.

Ever more mistakes crept into the riled Frenchman's game and at 5-1 down in the third and final set, he appeared to give up and 'tanked'.

Two mistakes left him trailing 0-30, after which he served two wild double-faults, seemingly deliberately.

He even hit his final serve of the match while a ballboy was still on court recovering his first service ball.

with AFP

Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.