New video shows French tennis player Terence Atmane hurling his racquet into the crowd during his opening qualifying match at this year’s Shanghai Masters.
Atmane launched the racquet toward a packed section of spectators after dropping a point against Bernard Tomic. Despite the dangerous outburst, the 24-year-old was not defaulted from the match.
Instead, Atmane retired while trailing Tomic 5-3 in the deciding set, handing the Australian victory. It marked Tomic’s second consecutive win by retirement during this autumn’s Asian swing.
The former Cincinnati Masters finalist had shown his frustration throughout the contest, repeatedly smashing his racquet into the net and sending balls out of the stadium as his inconsistent performance continued.
Atmane is likely to face a substantial tournament fine for the meltdown. However, the incident has also reignited debate over the inconsistent enforcement of tennis rules governing racquet abuse.
On the same day, Daniil Medvedev was defaulted during his Beijing semi-final against Novak Djokovic after striking a ball into the stands, where it hit a spectator in the face.
Terence Atmane sent his racquet flying into the stands during a dangerous outburst in Shanghai Masters qualifying.
Atmane was fortunate to avoid being defaulted in Shanghai (Source: Instagram/Terence Atmane)
The spectator avoided serious injury but was taken to hospital as a precaution. Medvedev, who apologised profusely and accepted his punishment without protest, later sent him a signed racquet bearing the message: “I am sorry.”
Because of the default, Medvedev lost both the prize money he had earned by reaching the semi-finals and the ranking points associated with that run. The sanction came at a particularly costly moment, with the world No. 9 competing for a place at next month’s ATP Finals.
The relevant rule states that players must not “violently, dangerously, or with anger hit, kick or throw a racket or other equipment” on court. Yet the way that rule is applied has often appeared highly inconsistent.
Atmane’s racquet was considerably heavier than a tennis ball and appeared to be thrown with greater force than Medvedev’s wayward shot. The key difference, however, was that Atmane’s racquet did not hit anyone in the stands.
Critics argue that the absence of an injury should not prevent a default. Without the serious consequences of losing ranking points and prize money, they say, players may have little incentive to change dangerous behaviour on court.
There have been several recent examples of players escaping with limited punishment after similar incidents. At the Hamburg Open earlier this year, Daniel Altmaier received only a code violation for kicking his racquet into the crowd, where alert spectators managed to catch it.
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At this year’s US Open, 12th seed Belinda Bencic also struck a spectator while playing Yulia Putintseva. The chair umpire determined that the contact had been unintentional.
Putintseva protested that Bencic had still “hit someone,” but the umpire’s decision appeared to rest partly on whether the spectator had been injured. The person was unharmed, and Bencic remained in the match.
The lack of uniformity extends across tournaments. Djokovic was an understanding opponent for Medvedev—particularly after the incident helped Djokovic secure a seventh consecutive China Open title—having experienced a similar punishment at the 2020 US Open. Djokovic was defaulted there after hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball struck in frustration.
“It’s a bit of a shock, to be honest. I hope that person is not badly injured,” Djokovic said after his unusual victory. “I also feel sorry for Daniil. I know exactly how he feels to be disqualified in a big match.
“I am sure that Daniil did not want to do this intentionally.”
Lorenzo Musetti, by contrast, avoided punishment for a comparable incident at the 2025 French Open, when he kicked a ball that struck a line judge on the shoulder.
On the same day, Daniil Medvedev was defaulted for hitting the ball into the stands and injuring a spectator
Last year at a tournament in China Atmane threw his racquet to the back of the court – and was allowed to continue
Monday’s incident confirmed too that Atmane continues to struggle keeping his temper in check.
At the 2024 French Open during his first-round clash with Sebastian Ofner, he was forced to apologise for hitting a fan with an angry ball – another instance where he was allowed to stay on-court.
A year later, at a Challenger event in Guangzhou, he threw his racquet to the back of the court. But he was allowed to continue, and won the match.
Following his defeat to Tomic, Atmane explained that his outbursts had stemmed from his insecurity of dropping out of the top 100.
‘Being inside the top 40 a month ago and seeing myself almost out of the top 100 made me way more stressed and pressured than I could possibly imagine,’ he admitted. ‘It doesn’t excuse me for my bad behaviour, and after considering what happened on court for these past weeks, I’ve decided to take a step back and rebuild myself from 0.’
Hinting at health issues which were physical rather than ‘mental’, Atmane also shared that he is considering ending his season early.